By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
A report from the Auditor General’s Department has disclosed that the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Management Secretariat disbursed cash grants to 44 beneficiaries who had passed away, totalling GH¢84,480.
The report further highlighted that an amount of GH¢396,620 was disbursed to beneficiaries who were no longer eligible for the programme.
LEAP, a government-implemented social protection initiative, aims to provide cash grants to extremely impoverished and vulnerable households to mitigate economic and social hardship.
This information was conveyed in the transmittal letter to the Speaker of Parliament on August 8, 2023 by the Auditor General, Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu.
“We found that LMS paid cash grants to caregivers of deceased beneficiaries in one-member households, resulting in payments to 44 deceased beneficiaries amounting to GH¢84,480.
We also noted that LMS did not conduct reassessments of LEAP as required. Despite identifying positive impacts of the programme, LMS failed to graduate or exit beneficiaries even when their socioeconomic status had improved. This led to payments of GH¢396,620 to beneficiaries who no longer qualify to be on the programme,” he stated.
The Auditor General pointed out that the audit was conducted from February to October 2022 at the LMS and five districts of three regions, covering the period from 2017 to 2022.
He also underscored that LMS did not comply with fund utilisation guidelines, thereby spending more funds on running the programme than permitted, leading to overspending of GH¢15,369,309.97, which poses a risk to the programme’s sustainability. Additionally, MOGCSP did not maintain appropriate records on the funds expended.
He suggested that MOGCSP should enhance its record-keeping practices to improve accountability.
