Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 107 Langenhove 2007:378). This realisation that continental integration is only possible through regional integration has intensified sub-regional blocs' functioning. In West Africa, there is virtual unanimity among member states of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) founded on May 28, 1975 with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, to foster close interaction among themselves, particularly along the following functions, • strengthen trade cooperation by removing barriers to free trade and increase free movement of people, labour, goods, and capital across national borders; • develop infrastructure programmes in support of economic growth; • promote democratic institutions and good governance; • reduce social exclusion and the development of an inclusive civil society; • contribute to peace and security in the region, and • strengthen the region's interaction with other regions of the world(ECOWAS Secretariat: Revised Treaty of the ECOWAS 1993: 6-18). However, recent developments in the West African sub-region such as the wanton civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, military coup d'état in Guinea, maltreatment of nationals of member states including the murder of four(4) Ghanaians in The Gambia, conflict in Cote d'Ivoire, among others, have slowed the progress of regional integration(US Department of State 2002:1; Republic of Ghana 2004:1). To be sure, several areas in governance, democracy, inter-state trade and security in West Africa, have been abysmal. For instance, economic difficulties in Ghana and Guinea have held back their entry into the West Africa Monetary Zone(WAMZ) (Republic of Ghana 2004:2-8). The lack of advancement in these areas over the years highlights the urgent need to speed the process of West African integration to levels comparable to those in other regions of Europe, North Atlantic, Southern Asia, among others. A new thinking within Africa's Third Wave of democratisation is that political parties have an invaluable role to play in the process toward regional integration. The advocates refer to the indefatigable role the European political parties played toward the successful European integration. For instance, in countries such as France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, inter alia, consensus forged among the ruling and opposition political parties provided the environment within which the mandates for the countries' membership of the European Union(EU) were secured(Kreppel 2001:2-3). The strength of these parties in advocating the integration of European states lay with the provision in the Treaty of Maastricht that duly recognised their role in the integration process. Notably, Section 41 of the Treaty of Maastricht stated that,'political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration 130 . A review of some of the Ghanaian political parties' manifestos reveals that there are, at least, few statements devoted to regional integration. While in many cases the NDC and NPP manifestoes are elaborate on the subject, and that of the CPP and PNC are scanty, there were gaps in terms of consistency in their political programme on regional integration. There were also marginal variations of policy issues on the ECOWAS in their manifestos – indeed, the same message was recycled. The researcher could not obtain all manifestos of the political parties. What is true is that the parties did not produce election manifestos in every election.