The National Democratic Congress (NDC) much talked about national delegates congress may not come off on 21 December as scheduled. The reason is simple: The party is broke!

Of the total amount of ?700m required to finance the crucial meeting, ?not a single pesewa has been put in the kitty yet,? nine days to 21 December, according to an unimpeachable source in the national executive committee of the party.

Asked whether that would force the national executive to postpone the congress, the top notch executive said, ?Yeah, it seems that is what they want.? Explaining, he said there are some people in the party who have the wherewithal to donate money for the congress but are refusing with the hope that the scheduled programme would fail.

Pushed to say whether that meant sabotage and blackmail, the source answered in the affirmative indicating that some elements want to dictate the pace of development, and the delegates? congress in particular, at their own pace and to their advantage.

The Ghanaian Chronicle can also say that out of frustration and to avoid blame, General Secretary Josiah Nii Aryeh has despatched S.O.S letters to the founder, Jerry Rawlings, his wife, Nana Konadu, and all prominent party executives and stakeholders, warning them of the impending fiasco if the ?700m is not raised in a matter of one week.

But when reached for official confirmation, Dr Obed Asamoah, the national chairman laughed momentarily and said, ?No comment.?

Come Saturday 21 December, 1,640 delegates will be drawn from the 10 regions and 200 constituencies of the country to converge at the Central Cafeteria of the University of Ghana, Legon.

The major item on the agenda will be choosing between Prof John Evans Atta Mills, the professional tax lawyer and ex-vice President, and Dr Kwesi Botchwey, the lawyer turned economist and former finance minister, one person to be the NDC?s flagbearer.

That person will slug it out with the incumbent President, John Agyekum Kufuor who will definitely stand for his party, the NPP and about five others including probably NPP rebel, Charles Kofi Wayo.

It is money to pay the transport, feeding and other bills of the delegates, hiring of accommodation and other facilities and miscellaneous expenditures that have been estimated to cost the ?700m.

Aside of the reason that some people may be deliberately withholding money from the party for their parochial interests, it was learnt that members are not paying dues in spite of the party?s resolve to rely heavily on dues. It was further learnt that contractors and other wealthy business people who bankrolled the party have suddenly deserted it.

Observers have also begun to believe the allegations made in the NDC era that the party overexploited its incumbency to its advantage and actually used state logistics, including money, for its activities. Now that they are not in control and have no access to such resources, they have gone so broke, they cannot find ?700m which used to be some small amount for the party to run its crucial delegates congress.