The major problem facing electoral management bodies in West Africa is _______

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks for the major problem facing electoral management bodies (EMBs) in West Africa. Examples are INEC in Nigeria, the Electoral Commission in Ghana, and CENI in several francophone countries.

Step 2: Explain the concept An electoral management body organizes and supervises elections. It registers voters, conducts polls, counts votes and declares results. Across West Africa, EMBs face many challenges, such as:

• Inadequate funding
• Logistics and infrastructure problems
• Lack of independence from the government
• Violence, ballot snatching, vote buying, rigging and result manipulation

Many of the other problems come from, or lead to, one central issue: electoral malpractice. It threatens the credibility of elections, causes post-election disputes and violence, and reduces public trust in the EMBs.

Step 3: Evaluate the options

• A. Lack of qualified personnel: This is a challenge, but it is not the dominant one. EMBs can recruit and train staff, including ad hoc staff.
• B. Poor communication network: This is a logistical issue and a minor one compared with the others.
• C. Foreign interference: This is not the main concern. Foreign bodies mostly act as observers or provide support.
• D. Electoral malpractice: This covers rigging, thuggery, vote buying, falsification of results and multiple voting. It is the most persistent and widespread problem in the region.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is D. Electoral malpractice.

Exam tip: For "major problem" questions in Government, pick the option that is the broadest and most central to the topic. Here, electoral malpractice is the core threat to what an EMB exists to do, which is to deliver free, fair and credible elections. The other options are narrower or less common.