When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr criticised Lyndon Johnson’s for doing little to fund the War On Poverty, a brilliant social initiative most people did not understand why the Civil Right leader would wade in the economic waters in the country. To Dr King he believed that empowering the poor through effective social interventions that would transform beggars into purchasers would not only lift the poor from the “stinking darts of poverty”, but it also has the knock down effect of stimulating the economy for massive take off.
“Rising tides does not lift all boats especially those stuck at the buttom”, says Jesse Jackson. Society must reach up to millions of people whom the forces of demand and supply cannot help. There are millions of people who have limited entry into the “highway of economic prosperity.” These are the people in the society who need to be helped. They are the ones who cannot owe an equity at the New York Stock Exchange or London FTSE.
A center-right party in Ghana led by John Agyekum Kuffour in 2008 commenced an economic transfer program called the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).[1] Few were those expected a property-owning government to come out with this unprecedented and massive social intervention. The policy was to transfer cash directly to those who were classified as poor according Ghana Living Survey. It is difficult to measure people’s income in the country since the economy is largely informal and more than 50% of people are not captured by the banking services or any other financial services. These were not reason for the government to put on hold the program. The money transfer varied with regards to the location of the recipient and the number of household and among others. The opposition viewed the cash transfers as a ploy by the government to appease voters in the forthcoming elections.
It has now been proved that directly handing out cash to economically vulnerable group does not only improve their purchasing powers but also enhances their health, nutrition and the education of their dependents. This innovation though has some draw back as some beneficiaries find it reward to be receiving the handouts than working for dollars. Yet the coloration between direct transfer to the poor and reducing poverty is statistically significance.
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