Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 42 Introduction The establishment of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) in May 1975 heralded a momentous development in African integration processes at the sub-regional level that transcended the linguistic divide. In West and Central Africa, the initial attempts to establish economic or customs unions were predominantly initiated by French-speaking countries and had a largely French hegemonic flavour, the exception being the Ghana-Guinea-Mali initiative which was spearheaded by the then Ghanaian President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The following examples with their accompanying French acronyms demonstrate this historical trend: the West African Customs Union(UDAO) of 1959, Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa(UDEAC) of 1964, Customs Union of African States(UDEAO) of 1966, the Organisation of Senegal River States(OERS) of 1968, and the Economic Community of West Africa(CEAO) of 1973, all fragments of the defunct Federation of French West Africa. 53 The establishment of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) in 1975 that eventually grouped all the Anglophone, Francophone and Luxophone countries in the sub-region, therefore, seemed to have prevented the danger of institutionalising colonial political structures. Another inhibition on the push for sub-regional integration in post-colonial West Africa was the lack of a sustained democratic culture due to the rampant intrusion of the military into national administrations. This political development has received a plethora of scholarly examination, 54 and the idea here is not to castigate that historical reality. Rather, it is meant to demonstrate the extent to which it might have crippled the development of a truly democratic culture in regional integration arrangements and overall institutional governance in the sub-region. It is ironical though, that while the intrusion of the armed forces into national politics could be viewed by some as an unhealthy political development, it is equally the case that it was through the instrumentality of mostly military governments in the sub-region that the ECOWAS was established. The leadership and foresight of Presidents 53 Refer to the works of S. K. B. Asante on the evolution of regionalism in Africa and the case of West Africa in particular. On this subject, see his Regionalism and Africa's Development – Expectations, Reality and Challenges. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), p. 35. 54 Relevant works in this regard include Opoku Agyeman,“Setbacks to Political Institutionalization by Praetorianism in Africa.” Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 26, No. 3, 1988; Pat McGowan and Thomas Johnson,“Sixty Coups in Thirty Years – Further Evidence Regarding African Military Coups d'etat.” Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, 1986; Samuel Decalo,“Military Coups and Military Regimes in Africa.” Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1, March, 1973; Amos Perlmutter,“The Praetorian Army: Toward a Taxonomy of Civil­Military Relations in Developing Politics.” Comparative Politics, April, 1969; Robert Price,“A Theoretical Approach to Military Rule in New States: Reference Group Theory and the Ghanaian Case.” World Politics, Vol. xxiii, No. 3, April 1971; The general but insightful work of Samuel P. Huntington, The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations.(Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1957) provides a peep into future developments.