President John Dramani Mahama on Monday promised that he would work hard to place Ghana on a development path that would benefit all Ghanaians irrespective of their geographical location,religious or ethnic affiliation.
He said: "Ghana is on the path of enormous transformation with new resources, new alliances and other opportunities that will bring adequate development… and I pledge that I will not let you down in these promises."
President Mahama made the promise in his inaugural address as the fourth President of the Fourth Republic and the fourth John to become the President of Ghana since 1992.
The ceremony which was attended by foreign dignitaries from the African continent and beyond, also attracted former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor.
The President said although Ghana had advanced in so many sectors, there was still much to be done in the areas of water, roads, healthcare, schools and sanitation and pledged government's commitment to tackle those issues with dispatch as they were pivotal for the growth and development of the country.
He said former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and late John Evans Atta Mills had played their roles in advancing the country to its current level and he would also do his best to push it further to make Ghana habitable and comfortable for investment and development.
To tackle those development issues, President Mahama also promised to invest heavily in human resource, which could be used as the 'raw material for enormous growth and development' in the succeeding years.
He said: "Former Presidents have blazed the trail in all aspect of governance and development and with God and with Ghana all things are possible in our land.
"We have all been witnesses to what Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor did for this country that were initially deemed impossible, but at the end of the day, they all succeeded in undertaking ventures that became beneficial to every Ghanaian," President Mahama extolled.
President Mahama also assured the business community in Ghana that his administration would provide business friendly programmes that would boost their commercial activities, adding “ I want to assure the business community that I will be their ally."
On the sharing of the national cake, President Mahama promised that government would pay attention to all, irrespective of their political, ethnic, religious, business, occupational affiliation and geographical location.
President Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin, who is also the Chairman of the African Union, commended Ghana for the democratic credentials she had garnered over the years, and called on other African countries to take a leaf from that achievement.
He called on all Ghanaians to protect the democracy she had taken so many years to nurture by uniting for accelerated development and economic growth.
"The inauguration of President John Dramani Mahama should serve as the turning point for all Ghanaians to rally behind him for the needed growth and development of the country," the AU chairman concluded.