LEAP: Auditor General Says Over GH¢480k Paid To Dead And Ineligible Beneficiaries
- The Auditor General has stated the LEAP Management Secretariat had been paying some 44 persons benefits posthumously
- He added that some who could no longer be classified as LEAP-worthy were still receiving benefits amounting to GH¢396,620
- The Auditor-General has urged the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to enhance record-keeping and accountability
The Auditor-General has stated that 44 beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme have been receiving funds posthumously.
The Auditor General discovered that GH¢84,480 was disbursed by the LEAP Management Secretariat to these 44 beneficiaries, who have passed away.
Source: UGC
The report further revealed that an additional GH¢396,620 was disbursed to persons who were no longer eligible for the LEAP programme.
The Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, made this known in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
PAY ATTENTION: All celebrity news in one place! Follow YEN's Facebook Broadcast channel and read on the go.
He said the LEAP Management Secretariat had paid cash to caregivers of deceased beneficiaries in one-member households.
AG: LEAP beneficiaries were not reassessed
The Auditor-General also said that the LEAP Management Secretariat had failed to conduct a reassessment of beneficiaries, as expected of them.
Their failure, he further stated, had led to persons whose socio-economic situations have significantly improved to remain on the programme.
LEAP is a government-implemented social protection initiative that targets extremely impoverished and vulnerable households to reduce socioeconomic hardships.
Beneficiaries whose situations improve are expected to exit the programme.
The Auditor General said the infractions were discovered following an audit report conducted from February to October 2022 at the LEAP Management Secretariat and five districts of three regions from 2017 to 2022.
LEAP Management Secretariat is overspending
Per Citi News, he noted that the LEAP Management Secreteriat had been profligate with funds meant for the programme's operation, leading to an overspending of GH¢15,369,309.97.
He said such reckless spending undermined the programme’s sustainability.
Akuamoah also stated that the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, under which the LEAP Management Secretariat operates, had failed to keep appropriate records on funds spent on running the programme.
He called for enhanced record-keeping at the Ministry to improve accountability.
OSP discovers 'ghost school' in Kumbungu
YEN.com.gh also reported that the Office of the Special Prosecutor says it has discovered a 'ghost school' in the Kumbungu District of the Ghana Education Service in the Northern Region.
The school is a non-existent primary school with staff members on the government's payroll. It is unclear how long this has existed, with workers enjoying full salaries on the government payroll.
The ghost school was discovered following the OSP's pilot of a corruption risk assessment and investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in the system.
Proofread by Bruce Douglas, senior copy editor at YEN.com.gh
PAY ATTENTION: Stay informed and follow us on Google News!
Source: YEN.com.gh
