The Communications Adviser for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social protection, Abraham Asare, has denied claims of bias in the disbursement of funds under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.
This comes on the back of claims by the MP for Gomoa Central, Rachel Appoh, that her constituency was being sidelined in the disbursement.
But speaking on Citi Eyewitness News, Mr. Asare denied any allegations that some districts or constituencies were being sidelined by the ministry.
[contextly_sidebar id=”KOeszEnKgqYzE4jI46tEf713Xc9jdpXJ”]“LEAP programme has covered 188 districts in Ghana. 18 are yet to be covered and the plan is that by the close of this year, all the 18 districts should be enrolled onto the programme so no district has been sidelined” He explained.
According to him, there is a scientific process of choosing the individuals and districts that qualify for the programme and that people do not just sit in Accra and decide who goes on LEAP.
“The ministry or the leap management does not generate the map of poor districts or regions in Ghana. It is the statistical service that does that… that is the map we are using. All the districts were chosen from that data we have from the statistical service.”
Commenting on the credibility of the data made available to them, he noted that there were three categories of people who qualify for LEAP benefits namely children who are orphaned and vulnerable, persons who are 55 years and above without any income with the final category being the severely disabled without economic and earning capacities.
According to him, people do not have to lobby to get onto the LEAP, rubbishing claims of political biases.
“All those who are benefiting the programme are Ghanaians and there is nothing political attached to it.”
He stated that the LEAP programme was making a difference saying, “research shows that people are really benefiting from this and people’s ability to purchase food and to go to hospital is improving and anybody on LEAP is automatically on NHIS [National Health Insurance Scheme] so the impact of LEAP is positive.”
For those with reports of bias and political discrimination, Mr. Asare pointed out the existence of the Case Management Unit and the LEAP Management Unit which would address their grievances.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana