Plugging the Leakages: Why Ghana’s Social Programmes Keep Failing the Poor, and How to Fix It
Ghana has made some progress with social intervention programmes over the years. It is evident in efforts like Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Ghana School Feeding Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme, and Free Senior High School. These aren’t just buzzwords – each of them emanated from an intentional push by the government to help the country’s most vulnerable people. Thanks to these policies, more kids actually stay in school, access to healthcare keeps growing, and thousands of low-income families get some real financial breathing room. However, let’s be clear: just having these programmes isn’t enough. It’s not only about how much money the government throws at them or how ambitious the goals sound. What really keeps these programmes going – and makes them work for the long haul – is a solid backbone of internal controls. When the system for monitoring, accountability, and auditing is weak, money slips through the cracks. Waste, fraud,...