Government has commenced a nationwide assessment of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme as part of efforts to undertake major reforms.

According to the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, the exercise is aimed at removing unqualified beneficiaries from the system to ensure the programme targets the most vulnerable.

The Minister made the remarks while speaking to journalists in Parliament after appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

She noted, however, that the assessment process will result in a two-week delay in the disbursement of first-quarter payments.

“We are moving from 350,000 to 400,000 households, so there is a bit of enumeration ongoing on the field and then uploading the beneficiaries unto the system to ensure that we meet the target.

“We are hoping that within the first two weeks we will be able to cover, pay and then catch up with subsequent payments. It is not the availability of funds, it is the documentation,” she stated.