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The Deputy Minority Leader of Parliament, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has called for the immediate review of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and other supposed elderly support policies since to him such programmes have all failed their purpose.
Founder of a Food Bank for the vulnerable and an elderly care centre, the Aya Community Centre in his constituency, Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah said it was worrying that about 27 percent of the elderly in Ghana are neglected.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 8th anniversary of the Aya Elderly Care Centre and his 57th birthday celebration, Mr. Buah said the current GH¢64 allocated to LEAP beneficiaries is woefully inadequate to cater to the needs of the elderly.
“We have basically abandoned our aged persons. Our old people are struggling to feed themselves and secure healthcare for themselves. Truly the challenges our old people are facing are daunting, especially in this current economic crisis. When the breadwinners are struggling, then you can imagine what impact it has on the old people. That is why this is the time to bring policies that will focus on the old people.”
Mr. Buah also lamented the poorly run National Health Insurance Scheme which he said was supposed to provide free medical care to the elderly in society.
“In Ghana, there are only two policies that are supposed to focus on the old people, that is the NHIS which is expected to give old people free access to healthcare but most hospitals are now not taking the NHIS because we all know that the NHIS is in crisis and not paying the hospitals. So can you imagine that old people are now forced to basically face cash and carry and that is a crisis.”
“The other intervention is the LEAP programme. The LEAP based on our population and percentage of old people is supposed to target basically 10 million people out of Ghana’s population, yet it can only support 1.2 million people. So there is a need to increase the number of people on the LEAP, but there are no funds to do that. Also, look at the meagre GH¢64 per month it gives to the few beneficiaries which can only last you for a few hours in this current economic hardship.”
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