Majority Chief Whip MP Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has dismissed suggestions that the ongoing nationwide tour by NDC Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia is an early campaign for the party’s flagbearer race.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, the South Dayi MP said the chairman’s constituency visits began long before current speculations emerged and were rooted in demands from party supporters after the 2024 election victory.

“I don’t know. I speak to the party chairman often, even today we spoke, but I haven’t had the opportunity to ask him about this,” he said.

“What I do know is that he’s been doing this tour from about April 2025, just when John Mahama finished with the appointment of ministers and did the regional tours.”

According to him, complaints emerged at a National Executive Committee meeting that while President John Dramani Mahama had visited supporters after the elections, the party itself had not properly engaged the grassroots.

“They said the party ought to come to the grounds to come and show gratitude, because they fought hard, we’ve been in opposition for eight years,” he explained.

Dafeamekpor said the exercise has taken time because of the scale and logistics involved.

“He had been doing this for the past year. You know, logistical mobilisation to visit these constituencies is no joke. So he’s been doing it methodically.”

He insisted the chairman’s movements should not automatically be interpreted as a presidential ambition.

“So his movement to go to the people, to the constituencies, and thank the party people and stakeholders, like chiefs and queen mothers, and some groups who supported us didn’t start yesterday, and so I don’t know how that dovetails or feeds into some agenda of campaigning as a flag.”

When asked whether the position gives the chairman an unfair advantage over potential contenders, Dafeamekpor pushed back.

“I think the question you should ask the people is, is the chairman going round claiming to be a flag bearer?”

The South Dayi MP also rejected claims that the current tour is unprecedented.

“Yes. We were in opposition, go and check the records,” he said when asked whether a similar exercise happened in 2021.

He recalled that the chairman extensively toured his constituency during that period.

“He came to my constituency. In fact, that one, he visited three zones in my constituency. He visited Kpeve, he visited Piki, he visited Tongo, we took him to the Dzemeni market.”

Dafeamekpor revealed that during the 2021 engagements, Asiedu Nketia carried a much more aggressive political message.

“He wants to assure them that we had won elections, but we were cheated, so they should keep faith with us, and that in 2024 he’s going to lead the team, and he will annihilate the NPP.”

“Those were some of the messages he took round, and that was General Mosquito for you,” he added.

He maintained that the chairman’s current tour follows the same pattern as previous post-election engagements and should not be viewed as anything unusual.