General News of 2013-01-07

I'll ensure my actions impact positively - Prez Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama Monday took office as the fourth President of the Fourth Republic, pledging to Ghanaians that he will do his best to ensure that his actions make a positive impact on them.

He said all the promises he had made to them were promises he intended to keep.

President Mahama was addressing a large gathering of a cross section of the Ghanaian society, foreign dignitaries including heads of state and government and members of the diplomatic corp at his investiture at the Independence Square in Accra.

In attendance were also the two former Ghanaian presidents, President Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor, former UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan as well as service commanders and traditional rulers.

President Mahama and his vice, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur had earlier been sworn into office by the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood who led them to take the oath of allegiance and the presidential oath. Vice President Amissah-Arthur was the first to be sworn in.

President Mahama however pointed out that change did not come about overnight and implored his countrymen to maintain the faith and trust placed in him as President, indicating that anxious and difficult moments tended to precede progress.

He said every society had a segment who would rather talk and complain about what was wrong rather than devote their time and effort to do what it took to make things right.

At every opportunity, the president noted, such people will tell us all the things that cannot be achieve and all the reasons why we should not even attempt to achieve them.

"The choice is ours," he charged.

President Mahama said the majority of individuals who had impacted the nation positively came from humble beginings and intimated the great contribution Tetteh Quarshie, a farmer's son, had made to the national economy by introducing cocoa to Ghana.

He noted that complecency and frustration can entice us into believing that as individuals we are incapable of making a difference and underlined that to the contrary, each and everyone had a role to play in the development of Ghana.