Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 37 whereas Ghanaian drivers who went beyond 11 feet were arrested and persecuted, their ECOWAS neigbours were allowed to use the ECOWAS limit. The GPS has now adopted the ECOWAS limit for all vehicles. 52 Low knowledge of travellers and law enforcement agencies about the protocols, general feeling among travellers that borders are unsafe and hostile as a result of law enforcement officials and so-called'facilitators', high level of disharmony in the rules applied by the law enforcement agencies across borders, reveal that the protocols have done little in harmonising rules across jurisdictions. The Way Forward Given the challenges identified above to Ghana's West African integration programme, the following steps will have to be taken: • Strengthening consultation and social dialogue mechanisms at the national level in order to develop clear and coherent national policies. • For effective implementation of ECOWAS Protocols there is the need for greater institutionalisation. This requires participation of the sectoral ministries – trade, industry, finance, transport, etc and organisations such as the Association of Ghana Industries(AGI) in the implementation process through the proper functioning of inter-ministerial coordination committees. This suggests the need for more regular meetings and at more levels to analyse measures already adopted at the national level, to assess the level of implementation of Protocols, to identify needs, to make all levels of the state hierarchy aware of the need for national implementation and to plan future action. • There is also the need for the executive to facilitate greater participation of the private sector and civil society groups in the integration process. To date, the integration process has been left to government alone but the fact is that neither the public sector endorsement of the imperative of regional integration nor the acceptance of responsibility for creating an enabling environment or the adoption of the fast track approach, is considered sufficient to bring the desired regional integration into fruition, without the other two sectors. • The executive is expected to galvanise political will for regional integration; its actions must transcend into concrete reality of effectively creating the enabling environment, lending practical support in identifying and creating the framework for private investment. • Data and other kinds of information on issues of regional integration should be made available to the public, unless classified, as a way of increasing public 52 Ibid.