ACCRA — Ghana's John Dramani Mahama, sworn in as president on Tuesday following the sudden death of John Atta Mills, says he was forever changed by his boyhood experiences during a 1966 military coup.

The 53-year-old who had been vice president was born in Bole Bamboi in northern Ghana and holds degrees in history and communications, according to Ghanian media.

He served as a diplomat in Japan in the early 1990s before returning to Ghana, where he was first elected to parliament as a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party....