In recent days, several leading figures within the National Democratic Congress have openly commented on worrying developments quietly unfolding within both the party and government.

When Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey recently cautioned against the growing practice where political appointees simultaneously seek to enjoy influential party positions while serving in government, he was not merely making an administrative point. Rather, he was indirectly acknowledging a dangerous political reality developing within the NDC today.

Personal ambitions are gradually beginning to overshadow party discipline, collective sacrifice, and governance itself. For that reason, the party’s new directive that such dual positioning will no longer be tolerated is not only correct but long overdue.

There are many competent and loyal party people ready to serve the structure without necessarily occupying government appointments at the same time.

A few days ago, Mustapha Gbande openly suggested that some appointees appear more concerned about their own political futures than helping President Mahama succeed.

Although Callistus Mahama attempted to cosmetically soften those concerns with politically correct statements emphasising unity and focus, the reality on the ground appears far more complicated than the official posture being projected publicly.

When one carefully sits down and observes responses from some appointees on sensitive national matters, contradictions, visible camps, and internal rivalries begin quietly revealing themselves.

Whether it is on controversial debates surrounding religious-based restrictions on school campuses or other major policy matters, there have been moments where responses coming from sections of government appeared inconsistent with the overall direction of the presidency itself.

Naturally, one cannot sit down and observe all these happenings without concluding that there are visible cracks gradually emerging within the governing structure of the NDC.

In politics, these things hardly happen in a vacuum. Most often, they are symptoms of deeper internal positioning and future power calculations.

The uncomfortable truth many people within the party do not want to openly discuss is that several people within government today are already strategically fixated on what becomes of them after President Mahama leaves office in 2029. Political ambition in itself is not evil.

Every politician naturally harbors some level of ambition. However, once government appointments gradually become platforms for future flagbearership calculations rather than governance delivery, discipline within government naturally begins weakening.

If indeed one’s focus is preparing to contest for the future leadership of the party, then why not simply resign from government and openly concentrate on party organisation and grassroots building? Why remain in cabinet or public office while simultaneously using state visibility, influence, and appointments to quietly advance personal political interests?

Part of this anxiety too, in my opinion, stems from the growing dominance of Johnson Asiedu Nketia within the internal structures of the party.

Many appointees quietly believe the General is already too deeply rooted within the grassroots and party machinery, thereby giving him a major strategic advantage in any future internal contest. Consequently, some of these younger political power centers may also feel pressured to remain publicly visible and politically relevant in order not to become overshadowed before the internal race even begins.

However, there is an important distinction people must honestly acknowledge. Johnson Asiedu Nketia is not a political appointee serving simultaneously in cabinet while managing party affairs.

He operates largely within the party structure itself. Therefore, if others believe he enjoys some institutional advantage, then the solution cannot be to indirectly convert government appointments into campaign machinery while still serving under President Mahama.

The truth is that when you build a cabinet or leadership structure filled with individuals of almost similar age groups, similar political exposure, similar visibility, and equal presidential ambitions, rivalry naturally begins developing beneath the surface.

Quiet camps emerge. Strategic calculations begin. Everybody starts measuring one another politically. Each person silently begins thinking, “If Mahama became president, why not me too?” From there, entitlement, competition, internal tensions, and subtle undermining naturally begin taking root. Eventually, governance itself starts becoming secondary to future positioning.

I remember something someone once quietly told me during an MP primaries campaign. He said, “Manaseh, politics among highly educated and ambitious people is not easy because everybody believes they deserve something greater tomorrow.”

That statement has remained with me ever since because it perfectly captures much of what is quietly unfolding today within the NDC.

Meanwhile, many ordinary grassroots supporters of the party are becoming increasingly aggrieved and frustrated. Several loyal party faithful who sacrificed enormously for the NDC still find themselves with no jobs, and without any meaningful sense of hope, while some appointees appear more focused on branding themselves politically for the future.

Some have become inaccessible and arrogant. Others are busily trying to satisfy everybody around them because of their future ambitions. In the end, the ordinary party grassroots feel abandoned, neglected, and politically used. That is the sad truth!

This is precisely why President Mahama must act early if he truly cares about both his government and the future stability of the NDC after 2029. This issue is no longer only about ministerial performance or policy delivery. Rather, it is fundamentally about political discipline, internal stability, and cohesion within government itself.

A government cannot move effectively when sections within it are quietly competing against one another for future control of the party.

President Mahama, therefore, needs a serious cabinet reshuffle sooner rather than later, not merely to address performance concerns but to restore discipline, reduce factional tensions, rebalance influence centers, and refocus government appointees on governance instead of succession politics.

In fact, part of the political solution may even involve bringing back some experienced old party figures who no longer possess burning presidential ambitions but still carry institutional memory, maturity, and stabilising influence.

Sometimes political balance is not achieved through youthful ambition alone but through a careful mixture of ambition, restraint, loyalty, and experience.

The NDC presently stands at a delicate political crossroads. If these internal cracks are ignored for too long, they may eventually harden into deeply entrenched factions capable of weakening both the government and the future electoral stability of the party itself.

The warning signs are already visible. The only question now is whether the leadership will confront them early enough before they fully rupture into the open.