On Wednesday, the news came in that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had reshuffled its leadership in parliament.
Following the change, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Member of Parliament for Tamale-South and NDC's Minority Leader, has been replaced by Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam and former Deputy Minister of Finance.
Likewise Mr James Klutsey Avedzi, MP for Ketu North, the Deputy Minority Leader, is being replaced by Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembele Constituency, while Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu Constituency replaces Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, MP for Asawase in the Ashanti Region, as the Chief Whip.
However, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim and Comfort Doyo-Ghansah, First and Second Deputy Whips respectively, have maintained their positions.
Some sources within the party say the affected personalities were consulted before the changes were effected and accordingly communicated to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin.
The changes have sparked mixed reactions from the party's front in the law-making house, some other members of the party and non-party sources such as social commentators.
For instance, media reports have it that Mr Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, the MP for the Odododiodoo Constituency in the Accra metropolis and one of the leading members of the Minority caucus, says the reshuffle has come to him as a surprise because neither he nor the caucus was aware of any such reshuffle or a letter sent to the Speaker to that effect.
This seems to be confirmed by the 'outgoing' Chief Whip, Mr Muntaka, as he claims that the Minority leadership were not consulted before the announcement of their removal from office, neither was the entire parliamentary caucus consulted.
He argued that the right thing to do was to have consulted the entire Minority caucus before any such decision.
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He even dared to say: "I would be very happy to be mentioning which elder was sent to me to talk to me, because no elder spoke to me."
Meanwhile, there are reports of a letter addressed to Mr Avedzi, the 'outgoing' Deputy Minority Leader, informing him about the party's decision, which presupposes that there are letters for or to other affected personalities.
Currently, 73 out of the 137 Minority MPs in the country's hung parliament have signed a petition asking the National Executive Committee of the NDC
to reverse the decision to reshuffle the Minority leadership. We can recollect that Dr Forson has called for calm and we think whether the decision to reshuffle will be reversed or carried out, the best thing to do is ensure calm in the NDC.
Political parties, whether in government or opposition, need some peace and tranquility to function well.
This is because besides the rule of law and institutions of democracy, these parties constitute one of the pillars of governance.
The NDC needs this atmosphere of peace and tranquility more than any time in its history because here is a party preparing to wrest power in 2024 in circumstances different from its previous experiences.
Besides, the party should not forget its role as a responsible opposition party which should put the government on its toes for the benefit of the entire country
Therefore, everything possible must be done to stop the simmering turmoil in the NDC
