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RELIABLE INFORMATION available to this paper indicates that the leadership of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed disappointment in one of its National Vice Chairmen, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, who has reportedly used the official letterhead of the party to solicit for funds, without the knowledge and consent of his other colleagues.

The leadership of the party, at its Functional Executive Committee (FEC) last week, took serious exception to the action of Dr. Spio-Garbrah, and consequently directed Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the General Secretary, to summon him for explanations.

Though the party contends that every member has a right to solicit for funds, the modus-operandi adopted by the Vice Chairman has raised a lot of suspicion, since he is not the Finance Committee Chairman.

At the meeting during which Spio’s letter was part of the agenda, all members of the FEC were furious, and demanded an explanation from him. Dr. Spio-Garbrah, a former Minister of Education and Communication under the administration of former president Jerry John Rawlings, who described President John Evans Atta Mills’ ministers as ‘Team B players,’ was out of town when the meeting was held.

Attempts to reach, Mr. Asiedu Nketiah failed, but his deputy General Secretary, Mr. Kofi Adams, could not confirm or deny the story. According to him, during the meeting he was very busy moving in and out of the room, and could therefore not tell whether a decision was taking against Spio Grabrah over his letter or not.

Mr. Adams however stated that the leadership of the party was worried about how funds are raised by individuals.

According to him, the party believes that there was the need for an improvement of the security features of letter sent out for funds, and that letters sent out should not be photocopied.

The Deputy General Secretary, stated that the though the party believes that every executive member could raise funds, things must be done in such a way that nobody would abuse the system.

“It was a general concern that we improve upon the security features of the system. We don’t want to create a situation where the system would be abused, or to prevent anybody from raising funds for the party. We believe that everybody within the party is a fund raiser,” he said.

A few days after his election, as one of the vice national chairmen of the NDC, Dr. Spio-Garbrah wrote a letter dated January, 20, 2010, under the caption, “Appeal for computers for NDC offices,” in which he requested for funds.

The letter which bore the NDC letterhead, states: “As you may know, at the recent delegates’ congress of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) the ruling party of Ghana, I was elected as a vice chairman.

One of the commitments I made to delegates, prior to the voting, was to assist the various branches, constituency and regional offices of the party with computers, printers, fax machines and other ICT accessories, to enable them become more functional and efficient.”

He continued: “My offer to assist the NDC office with ICT support is also related to the fact that I am the CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, based in London, which focuses on improving ICT access in its member countries, especially for disadvantaged groups.”

Dr. Garbrah, recounting is former roles in the letter, noted: “As a former Ambassador of Ghana to the USA, a former Minister of Education and Communications in the Rawlings administration, and with previous work experience at the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group, many NDC members believe that I have a lot to offer the party and Ghana in the area of knowledge acquisition, storage, and distribution, through ICT. “However, I am unable to meet these high expectations alone. I therefore appeal to you for a donation of new or refurbished computers, desktops, laptops, printers, photocopies, fax machines and related accessories, which could be used to equip offices of the NDC, in order to make them more efficient. An efficient ruling party will lead to an efficient government, and good governance is good for business.

“I thank you for your kind consideration, and look forward to your support. You may kindly call me on my Ghana number, or my UK number, if you would like to meet or have a prior conversation.”