President John Dramani Mahama has welcomed Vice President Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang back to Ghana, expressing both personal relief and political reassurance at her return from medical leave abroad.
Speaking at a brief ceremony at the Kotoka International Airport on Thursday, May 22, 2025, the President described her return as timely and significant, particularly in light of recent political tensions that emerged during her absence.
“I particularly have missed you, because even travelling out of the country has been difficult; they’ve threatened to impeach me for going to Togo while you were away,” President Mahama said, referring to the opposition New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) threats to initiate impeachment proceedings.
The NPP Minority had raised constitutional concerns after the President briefly visited neighbouring Togo while both the Vice President and Speaker of Parliament were unavailable, leaving no official to act in his stead as mandated by Article 60 of the 1992 Constitution. The opposition argued that this created a dangerous constitutional vacuum.
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang, who left Ghana in early April for medical treatment, was received at the airport by President Mahama and First Lady Lordina Mahama. Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and other senior government officials were also present.
President Mahama commended the Vice President’s work ethic, noting that her preparations prior to her medical leave ensured the smooth continuation of government programmes, including the 120-day social contract initiative.
“Since you left your colleagues, we’ve all missed you. We held the 120-day social contract programme, and everybody said you should have been there, but with all the work you did before you went, we continued, and I think that we were able to present to the people of Ghana a significant percentage of the things that we had promised. But in all this, you were missed.”
“Ghana is safe, things seem to be on the right track, and you’ve come at the right time to come and continue the work that you so beautifully started, and your colleagues are very happy to have you back,” he said.
President Mahama used the occasion to renew his call for long-term investment in Ghana’s healthcare infrastructure. Citing the underutilised University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), he stressed the importance of equipping local facilities to handle critical medical emergencies.
“This raises the issue of improving our healthcare systems. UGMC is a state-of-the-art facility, but it still lacks the capacity to handle certain emergencies. We need to fulfil the vision President Mills had for that hospital so future emergencies can be managed here in Ghana, not abroad,” he added.
President Mahama also revealed that doctors have declared the Vice President fully fit to resume official duties, joking that she returned looking “20 years younger.” However, he encouraged her to ease back into her responsibilities gradually.
“The professor told me you’re fit for the job, but I would still ask that you take it easy for a little while. Let’s see how things go,” he advised.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
