ABSTRACT
Since independence in 1957, successive Ghanaian governments have supported poor and vulnerable groups. In 2008, government introduced Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) as a cash transfer scheme for extremely poor families. At independence, Ghana's economic and political statuses were unrivalled in tropical Africa, with relatively high per capita income of US$ 390, the same as South Korea and higher than Malaysia, and a foreign exchange reserve of US$ 484 million. The Convention People's Party (CPP) government implemented welfare programmes that extended basic services to new areas that the colonial government had failed to provide for. From 1967 to 1982, Ghana had eight governments: six were military putsches and two were democratically elected. Ghana remained under the military rule of PNDC until 1992, when parliamentary and presidential elections were held. Successive elections in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 were peaceful and Ghana enjoyed relative political stability with alternations of parties in government.
