FULL TEXT: Ghana President, John Mahama’s speech at his inauguration

In his address to the nation, President Mahama expressed gratitude to the citizens for entrusting him with their confidence, pledging to lead the country into a new era of progress, unity, and prosperity.

He outlined an inspiring roadmap focused on the nation’s future, emphasizing innovation and resilience.

Below is the full text of his speech:

The Right Honorable Speaker of Parliament,

Honourable Members of Parliament,

Her Excellency, the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang,

Leadership, the Chief Justice,

Your Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and special guest of honor for this occasion,

Your Excellencies, Presidents, Heads of Government and Development Agencies,

Your Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,

Former President, Your Excellency, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,

Distinguished Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, My Brothers and Sisters,

I wish you a good morning, and we give thanks to the Almighty God on this occasion.

Our Father, who art in heaven, we thank You for giving us this day, a day that offers me, Your humble servant, a unique opportunity to work to reset our dear country, Ghana.

Thirty-two years ago, on January 7, Ghana made its first and most successful democratic transition, a reset with the swearing-in of the newly democratically elected President, Jerry John Rawlings, of blessed memory.

Thirty-two years ago, on January 7, Ghana made its first and most successful democratic transition, a reset with the swearing-in of the newly democratically elected President, Jerry John Rawlings, of blessed memory.

Our nation was returned to a multi-party democracy with a new constitution that went into effect, and the Fourth Republic was officially established.

I refer to it as a reset because, on that day in 1993, we made our fourth attempt at establishing a democratic system of government with term limits based on free, fair, and transparent elections. The handover of power on January 7, 2001, between former President Jerry John Rawlings and, at the time, the newly elected President John Agyekum Kufuor, tested that reset, and our nation passed with flying colors.

So today, with my induction as the new President of the Republic of Ghana, history is being made once again, and it is a history worth repeating every four years with each newly elected president.

Today, we’re also making a different kind of history, one that speaks to our maturity as a democracy, a nation of citizens enfranchised with the authority at the polls to determine their political future.

Today’s exercise between the outgoing president, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and I feels a bit like déjà vu. That is because eight years ago to this day, on January 7, 2017, we shared this same space and performed this same transitional exercise.

At the time, I was the outgoing president, having served one term, and he was the incoming president, having been given a mandate by the people of Ghana to lead this great nation of ours. He and I both understood on that day, as I’m sure we do today, that it is the people of Ghana that we are elected to serve.

Somehow it seems fitting that it is with Nana Akufo-Addo that I twice shared this stage and this unique historical distinction because Nana Akufo-Addo and I began our national political careers in Parliament in the same year, 1996.

He has always greeted me with a firm handshake and a smile, and he’s perhaps the only person in my life who has persistently chosen to call me Johnny.

While we belong to opposing political parties, we shared a sense of mutual respect. In those early days, we probably could not have imagined that destiny would bring us to the leadership of our respective parties and that we would have to face off three separate times as we each vied for the highest office of the land.

Nana, as this will be our final meeting under these circumstances, and as I look back on the journey we have traveled together, two much younger men entered Parliament together with a full head of black hair, and you with the same bald head and round eyeglasses, I have to say that you have, without exception, been a worthy opponent.

I extend my warmest wishes to His Excellency, the former Vice President, Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia. It was a grueling campaign, and we gave it our all. Your sportsmanship in making an early concession eased tensions and contributed to the early conclusion of the electoral contest. I wish you all the best in your endeavors.

My brothers and sisters, the world in which Ghana exists today as I begin this presidency is not the same world in which we have lived under other presidencies. There are tensions and conflicts that have not previously existed between nations. These tensions and conflicts place pressure on alliances to decide where we will support.

There is a seismic shift happening within the system of global economic dominance. Whereas the G7 nations—the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan—once provided the highest percentage of the world’s GDP, over the last decade, that number has been steadily dropping. However, the combined total of the GDP of the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, UAE has been consistently increasing.

In 2023, for instance, the G7’s combined total of wealth (GDP) was 30%, but by 2029, that number is predicted to drop to 27%. In 2023, the BRICS percentage of world GDP was 37.3%.

So what does this mean to us in Ghana? What could it mean to our economy? Where do we fit in this geopolitical maelstrom?

Technologies such as artificial intelligence have taken us to new heights, opening up the potential for national, financial, and personal security issues that we are not yet able to imagine. One example is the use of misinformation and algorithm manipulations on social media platforms to sway a particular group’s sentiment towards or away from something.

Communities and medical infrastructure in several of our neighboring countries and in the sub-region. Let us also not forget how swiftly and completely the COVID pandemic brought the entire world to a screeching halt.

My government will be working diligently to strengthen our public health systems while monitoring the global health situation so that when, and not if, the next pandemic or epidemic occurs, the loss of lives in Ghana will be minimal.

The larger world exists around us and to some extent within us. While we cannot and should never use it as an excuse to stray from the direct and immediate needs of Ghana for the well-being of our citizens, we must also bear in mind that the affairs of the world can shape, influence, avoid, or even maximize the effect they have on us.

My brothers and sisters, early a month ago, we held historic elections that have caused dramatic shifts in our political landscape. I feel greatly honored that you, my compatriots, considered me worthy of receiving such an unprecedented and overwhelming mandate to steer the affairs of our beloved nation at this critical time in our history.

The magnitude of this victory in the presidential elections and the gains that were made by my party, the National Democratic Congress, in the parliamentary elections naturally and justifiably resulted in great joy and celebration across our country, Ghana.

But celebrations, no matter how justified and well-earned, must be supplanted by discernment, sobriety, and deeper insights into why we received this kind of mandate in the first place.

By voting as you did on December 7, the Ghanaian people conveyed a powerful message, yet often overlooked by us politicians. This message was powerfully emphasized by a giant of American political history, President Ronald Reagan, when he declared at his inauguration some 40 years ago that governments have no power except that granted by the people.

While Ghanaians take great pride in our thriving democracy, they are deeply dissatisfied with the quality of governance over the years and have openly voiced that dissatisfaction through the decisive actions they undertake at the elections.