A political scientist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, says recent exchanges between National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah and Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu are unlikely to cause any serious damage to the governing party.

The development follows comments by Mr Iddrisu, who described President John Dramani Mahama’s recent post-election engagements as the “proper” thank-you tour, in what many viewed as a subtle response to Mr Asiedu Nketiah’s separate nationwide “Thank You” tour.

During one of his engagements, Mr Asiedu Nketiah justified the decision to replace Haruna Iddrisu and Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak as leaders of the Minority in Parliament ahead of the 2024 elections, arguing that the reshuffle contributed to the party’s electoral success.

He also disclosed that he personally advised President Mahama to appoint both Mr Iddrisu and Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak to key ministerial positions after the NDC’s victory in the 2024 general elections.

Shortly after the remarks circulated widely on social media, Mr Iddrisu, while accompanying President Mahama on his tour of the Savannah Region, appeared to downplay the significance of Mr Asiedu Nketiah’s separate engagements.

“I recall when the President came for his thank-you tour, not the other thank-you tour. I mean the proper thank-you tour, not the curtain-raiser one,” he said.

The exchange has fuelled speculation about possible tensions within the NDC ahead of the party’s expected race to elect a presidential candidate for the 2028 elections.

However, speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News, Dr Amakye-Boateng described such disagreements as a normal feature of political party dynamics.

“The issue of elections in political parties always brings these things that I call normal practice, normal divisions in political parties,” he said.

“It is normal because competitions behave in such a way that you will have people supporting person A or person B, and so you will have factions. These are normal.”

He explained that internal competition only becomes problematic when political actors fail to conduct themselves properly.

According to him, neither Mr Iddrisu nor Mr Asiedu Nketiah had openly escalated the matter in a way that should cause public concern.

“They have not necessarily come out to present themselves to the Ghanaian public in a confrontational way, so I think we have to allow events to unfold,” he noted.

Dr Amakye-Boateng further argued that the NDC is an experienced political party capable of managing internal disagreements without destabilising the organisation.

“The NDC has been around for some time and knows how to manage these issues. I do not expect anything serious to come out of this,” he added.