Asiedu Nketia's Tamale Speech Exposes Deepening NDC Rift Ahead of 2028

Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, has a well-earned reputation for political cunning. His nickname, General Mosquito, was not bestowed for subtlety. When he bites, opponents tend to stay bitten. His speech in Tamale this week, delivered as part of the NDC’s latest round of Thank You tours, was no exception — and the political class in Accra is still parsing its implications.

The speech was ostensibly a celebration of the NDC’s electoral victory. In practice, it was a masterclass in political positioning. Asiedu Nketia used the platform to reveal, three years after the fact, the internal dynamics behind the January 2023 parliamentary reshuffle that saw Haruna Iddrisu removed as Minority Leader and Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka replaced as Minority Chief Whip. The chairman claimed that President John Mahama had opposed the reshuffle, but that he, Asiedu Nketia, had overruled the then-candidate. “I am the coach,” he reportedly told Mahama. “He backed down.”

The revelation alone would have been significant. What made it explosive was the setting: Tamale, Haruna Iddrisu’s political backyard. Referring to Haruna as “my boy” in his own constituency was, by any political calculus, a calculated provocation.

A Pattern of Strategic Ambushes

Those who have watched Asiedu Nketia’s career will recognise the playbook. In December 2022, ahead of the NDC’s chairmanship race, he appeared on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo morning show — a programme the NDC had officially boycotted for years. During that interview, he “reluctantly” confirmed the contents of a leaked tape that pointedly criticised the party’s national-level leadership for the 2020 election defeat. The target of that criticism was Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, his rival for the chairmanship. Asiedu Nketia won the race comfortably.

The Tamale speech follows a similar logic. By publicly claiming credit for the Haruna-Muntaka reshuffle and simultaneously asserting that he personally lobbied Mahama to give both men prominent ministerial appointments in January 2025, the chairman sent a dual message: I control the levers of power within this party, and I am magnanimous enough to use them on behalf of those who were displaced.

What It Means for 2028

The timing is not accidental. With the 2028 election cycle approaching, the NDC’s internal power dynamics are already shifting. The repeated use of “I” throughout the Tamale speech — “I decided,” “I prevailed,” “I countered” — suggests a chairman who is no longer content to operate behind the scenes. Whether this signals a presidential ambition or simply a bid to consolidate his kingmaker status remains the subject of intense speculation.

The political risks, however, are real. Haruna Iddrisu commands deep loyalty in the Northern Region, and Muntaka holds significant influence in the Zongo communities of Ashanti. If Asiedu Nketia’s public assertions are read as humiliations rather than strategic disclosures, the backlash could fracture the party’s coalition at precisely the moment it needs unity.

What is already clear is that the NDC’s internal cohesion is more fragile than its electoral success suggests. The President’s presence at the Sawla rally on the same day as the chairman’s Tamale event, with Haruna publicly dismissing the chairman’s tour as a “curtain-raiser” and “fake thank you,” placed Mahama and Haruna in visibly aligned positions. The political arithmetic is not lost on anyone.

As one observer noted, this is not the behaviour of a party resting comfortably after victory. This is a coalition preparing for its next internal contest — and the mosquito has already started biting.

Image Source: MYJOYONLINE