A total of Ghc54.7 million is to be disbursed to 344,389 beneficiary households nationwide as social cash grants under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.

The five-day disbursement, expected to start from Monday, is for the 77th and 78th cycles, meaning all beneficiary households--constituting more than 1.5 million individuals -- would receive double the regular bi-monthly grant.

In view of this, one eligible member household would receive GHC 64.00; two eligible members, GHC 76.00; three eligible members, GHC 88.00 while a household with four and more eligible members would get GHC106.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Head of LEAP Programme under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), Dr. Myles Ongoh, in Accra yesterday.

LEAP is a social cash transfer programme for the poorest households in Ghana with the goals of reducing poverty by smoothening consumption and promoting human capital development.

The category of persons who make a household eligible are orphan and vulnerable children (OVC); elderly (65 years+) without support; persons with severe disabilities who cannot work and very poor pregnant women and mothers with infants under one year.

"The amount of money paid [through e-zwich] is not the same for all households benefiting from the Programme. The amount paid to a household is determined by the number of eligible household members," the statement explained.

The statement acknowledged the contribution of the Programme's Development Partners and the staff of the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development and all community volunteers towards the implementation of the Programme across the country.