Minister for Education Haruna Iddrisu has taken a subtle swipe at ongoing parallel appreciation tours within the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) while addressing supporters in the Savannah Region in the presence of President John Dramani Mahama.

Referring to President Mahama’s post-election engagements with party supporters, Mr Iddrisu described the President’s tour as the “proper” thank-you tour.

He spoke on Friday, May 22, during an event in the Savannah region where the President is touring.

“I recall when the President came for his thank you tour, not the other thank you tour,” he said.

“A proper thank you tour of President Mahama, not the curtain-raiser one."

The comments come amid a separate nationwide “Thank You Tour” being undertaken by the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, following the party’s victory in the 2024 general elections.

Mr Asiedu Nketia has stated that the tour is intended to express gratitude to Ghanaians for returning the NDC to power.

During a recent stop in Tamale, the NDC Chairman defended the party’s controversial parliamentary leadership reshuffle ahead of the elections, arguing that the changes were necessary to improve the party’s electoral prospects.

“New things were emerging, and I said that we have to change the forward line of Parliament, otherwise it will be difficult for us to win the election,” he stated.

According to him, the decision created internal tension and was misunderstood by some party supporters, although he maintained that the move was strategic rather than personal.

“There was hell, and people started thinking that somebody who has been my friend for more than 20 years has suddenly become my enemy,” he said.

The National Party chairman also claimed that despite the reshuffle and its fallouts, he pushed for Mr Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka Muhammed to be given critical appointments under President Mahama's second presidency.

Mr Haruna's comment is believed to be an indirect response to Mr Asiedu Nketiah's comment about the parliamentary leadership reshuffle.

The NDC, in January 2023, replaced its then Minority leadership team led by Mr Iddrisu as part of what the party described as a broader restructuring exercise ahead of the 2024 elections.

Under the reshuffle, Cassiel Ato Forson was appointed Minority Leader, replacing Mr Iddrisu, while Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah replaced James Klutse Avedzi as Deputy Minority Leader. Kwame Governs Agbodza was named Minority Whip, with Ahmed Ibrahim and Comfort Doyoe Ghansah serving as First and Second Deputy Whips, respectively.