President John Mahama has given the assurance that he would hand over a peaceful country to his successor, Nana Akufo-Addo, come January 7, 2017.

"I inherited a peaceful and stable country from my predecessor, the late President John Evans Atta Mills and will also hand over a peaceful and stable government to my successor, the President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo."

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The Bishops were at the Presidency to commend him for his demonstration of statesmanship after peacefully conceding defeat in the December 7 elections.

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They were led by their President; the Metropolitan Archbishop Philip Naameh, of the Tamale Metropolitan Archdiocese and Archbishop Palmer Buckle, Vice President and  Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra.

He said the intercessory prayers of the religious bodies in Ghana could not be taken for granted and called on the Catholic Bishops to offer the same support they offered him to the incoming government to ensure the perpetual growth of the country.

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Ghana, he added, would continue to be respected by her peers and the international world for her respect for democracy and constitutional rule and called on Ghanaians to unite for their common development goals.

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Archbishop Naameh, President of the Conference, said Ghana would forever remember President Mahama for his numerous infrastructural developments dotted throughout the country.

He pledged the prayer of the conference for him even in his life after the Presidency and urged him to continue to offer any other suggestions that could move the country forward.

"We the Catholic Bishops conference will like to commend you for your demonstration of statesmanship, which has seen Ghana's general election through peacefully," he said.