Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme provides conditional cash transfers to poor households in deprived communities. Beyond the potentiality of the LEAP programme to reduce poverty, its implications for shaping state–citizen relations and inclusive citizenship have been largely ignored. This study explored the implications of the programme on notions of citizenship among cash recipients. The findings indicate that the programme generates interfaces that strengthen state–citizen interaction and serves as a promising avenue for reintegration. However, it is also characterised by undue delay in cash payment and weak institutional capacity to mediate interactive processes and grievances, which suggests that the contractual relationship and the state's accountability are weak. Furthermore, the programme has negatively influenced community social relations, limiting the forms of agency beneficiaries exercised. The study concludes that although LEAP represents a landmark in Ghana's quest for inclusive citizenship, it undermines social relations and citizens’ rights to hold the state accountable, which unavoidably limits effective state building.

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BackgroundLeprosy is a condition that has long been associated with stigma and discrimination, even when infected persons have been cured. This paper describes stigma and discrimination as viewed by caregivers who are associated with people affected by leprosy in Ghana.MethodsA qualitative interview with semi-structured interviews were conducted for twenty caregivers.ResultsFindings indicated that caregivers were of the view that people affected by leprosy in Ghana are stigmatized and discriminated against by the larger society thus making their movements and interactions restricted to the Leprosarium. Besides, employments opportunities are unavailable to them thus making them exposed to financial challenges. The livelihood Empowerment Against poverty (LEAP) money given them is not sufficient for their daily upkeep.ConclusionPeople affected by leprosy in Ghana are stigmatized and therefore find it difficult to interact freely with the public. The associated physical deformities with the disease also tend to impede their ability to relate to the general public. The LEAP cash given to people affected by leprosy is helpful however, it could be enhanced to keep pace with prevailing economic conditions in the country.

Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program was implemented in 2008 to provide social protection to vulnerable groups, such as orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). This qualitative study explored how household size influenced the extent to which the basic needs of OVC were met. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit 21 households caring for OVC. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 caregivers and 10 OVC, to gather data for the study. The findings indicated that household size influenced spending decisions of caregivers, although the cash transfer was conditional. Additionally, it was found that the cash received by caregivers was used to benefit all children in the households, both beneficiary and non-beneficiary. Based on the findings, we conclude that cash transfers will have the intended impact on beneficiaries if traditional family living systems and practices are taken into consideration in the design and implementation of national social protection programs.