Asiedu Nketia Defends NDC Parliamentary Shake-Up Ahead of 2024 Elections

BY BOAKYE STEPHEN, KUMASI, GHANA | REPORTING FOR GHANAIAN NEWS, CANADA | May 24, 2026

National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has defended the controversial decision to replace Haruna Iddrisu and Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka as Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Leader before the 2024 elections.

Speaking during the party’s Thank You Tour in Tamale South, Asiedu Nketia insisted the decision was strategic rather than personal.

Describing his role as similar to that of a football coach, he explained:

“so that I can also arrange my team for us to be able to win.”

He further stated:

“Haruna Iddrisu has been my brother. We have worked together,” he said.

“In fact, when I made him Minority Leader, there were people in the party who criticised me for choosing my friend.”

Explaining the political calculations behind the reshuffle, he added:

“I said we had to change the forward line of Parliament. Otherwise, it would be difficult for us to win the elections.”

Asiedu Nketia disclosed that then-presidential candidate John Mahama initially disagreed with the proposal.

“You elected me as chairman of this party. I am the coach of the party going into the election, so let me make the changes that will help us win,” he recounted.

He admitted the backlash was intense.

“There was hell,” he said.

He also rejected suggestions that Haruna Iddrisu had become his political enemy.

“But how can Haruna become my enemy? He cannot become my enemy,” he explained.

Following the NDC’s electoral victory, Asiedu Nketia said he personally advised President Mahama not to sideline Haruna and Muntaka.

“After winning, I told President Mahama that we could not ignore Muntaka and Haruna in the formation of government,” he said. “They needed to be given major positions, and President Mahama agreed.”

He cautioned supporters against factional politics.

“If people in the Tamale area are creating groups like Haruna group, Asiedu Nketia group and so on, that is not our position. That is your own issue in Tamale, not ours,” he said.

“We are working together.”

He concluded with a broader warning about internal party conflicts.

“We should not allow our differences to destroy the NDC,” he counseled.

NPP Counter Strategy Also Revealed

Former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also revealed that the NPP made strategic leadership changes in Parliament partly in response to NDC political calculations.

According to him, former President Akufo-Addo explained that the party needed stronger visibility in the Central Region, especially after Ato Forson became Minority Leader and expectations grew that Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang would become Mahama’s running mate.

Commentary | Boakye Stephen

These disclosures provide rare insight into how Ghana’s two major political parties strategically manage parliamentary leadership ahead of national elections. Both the NDC and NPP appear to have viewed parliamentary reshuffles as electoral tools rather than purely legislative decisions.