The Director of the Democracy Project at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr John Osae-Kwapong, has urged the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to establish clear guidelines to manage growing political ambitions and tensions within the party.

According to him, such measures are necessary to ensure the Mahama administration remains focused on governance.

He recalled an interview with former President John Kufuor after the 2020 elections, when he advised government appointees with presidential ambitions to step aside if their political interests would distract from governance.

"The leadership of the party will have to come up with certain guidelines — I do not want to call them rules — that can shape and guide behaviour. They must remind party members that the administration is still focused on governing and is barely into its second year in office.

“We need to be circumspect in balancing our obligation to govern, which is why we were elected, with individual political ambitions beyond President Mahama’s tenure. The party leadership has to find a way to communicate that message and strike the right balance,” he urged.

According to Osae-Kwapong, the NDC leadership must strike a balance between managing succession ambitions and ensuring effective governance, especially as the administration is still in its early years.

“We are barely into year two of the administration, so there must be a balance between the obligation to govern and personal political ambitions,” he said.

He noted that the situation becomes more complicated when individuals believed to harbour presidential ambitions are also part of the party leadership responsible for enforcing discipline and setting guidelines.

The analyst further warned that visible divisions emerging between key figures within the party, including perceptions of tension between the party chairman and the presidency, could become worrying if not managed properly.

“If you don’t govern well because of internal competition, then what becomes of the administration?” he questioned.