President John Mahama has expressed relief at the return of Vice President Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, describing her return as both reassuring and politically significant.

According to him, the Vice President's absence left a significant gap in the administration, admitting that even a brief official trip to neighbouring Togo sparked impeachment threats.

President Mahama said this on Thursday, May 22, during his welcome message to the Vice President back to Ghana following a weeks-long medical leave abroad.

This is his first official comment regarding the criticisms of the opposition NPP about the gap that was left when the President, his Vice and the Speaker of Parliament were all out of the country without getting a Chief Justice to act as President as the Constitution demands.

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"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.

"So I'm the most excited to have you back, so you're warmly welcome," he said, referencing the Minority's consideration of impeachment proceedings over alleged constitutional breaches during his trip.

The Minority had raised concerns that President Mahama's departure, while both the Vice President and Speaker of Parliament were unavailable, created a constitutional vacuum, potentially violating Article 60 of the 1992 Constitution.

• Read also: Minority considers Mahama impeachment over constitutional breaches

The Vice President, who left the country in early April for further treatment after a sudden illness, returned to a warm reception led by President Mahama and his wife, Lordina. Also present at the airport were Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and other senior government officials.

President Mahama praised Prof Opoku-Agyemang’s dedication to duty prior to her medical leave, noting that her groundwork helped sustain the government’s 120-day social contract programme in her absence.

"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.

The President also used the occasion to call for long-term investment in the country’s healthcare infrastructure, referencing the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) as a critical but underutilised facility that should be better equipped to handle emergencies like this locally.

"This raises the issues of us improving our healthcare so that we can handle emergencies like this. We built a quintessential hospital, which is the UGMC, but it's still not at the stage where they can handle some of these cases and so it's a call to duty that we should implement it the way Professor Mills had intended it to be, so that in future, emergencies like this can be handled without us having to fly out."

President Mahama noted that doctors have declared the Vice President fully fit and even joked that she returned looking “20 years younger.”

However, he advised her to take things slowly as she resumes her official duties.

"That's what the professor told me, and that you are okay, and fit for the job, but I will ask that you take it easy for a little while. We'll see how things go."