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PAGE 12
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, DECEMBER 28, 1984
ly and they were clean. They lighted the street lights at 6 p.m.
every evening. The drains were clean and did not smell."•••
"They say we have 52 billionaires in the Ivory Coast, and they
are all politicians or former politicians," said Joseph Anoma, a
35-year-old businessman in Abidjan, the capital, himself the de
scendant of an Ivorian political family.
"I could take you
around Plateau here (a skyscrapered downtown business district),
and I'11 show you who owns what.
.!E
America, you have to get rich
to .9.2 into politics. In Africa, you .9.2 into politics to get rich.
This is why you find people who are worried about violence in Af
rica's future. The ordinary people see these things."•••
An Ivorian economist•••added•••"At independence, the leaders
said the white people are exploiting us, so let's change the sys
tem. But what happened was that when our own people took power,
they set up their own oligarchies, but went on playing the same
game with their own rules•••• We have this pyramid in Africa with
people at the top just taking the cream out of various African
countries. Third World leaders are enriching the banks of Swit
zerland.
"It is time to change. If we don't, it is going to result in in
stability. The pressure is building up and, one day, it is going
to blow•••• Decade No.
l
in Africa, in
.!!!Y
opinion, is going to be
very violent."
Weade Kobbah-Wureh, 29, a Liberian journalist, says she blames
political instability for a general eroding of authority. "All
the reasons they give for staging a coup are acted out by the new
regime within months after they take power," she said recently.
"It erodes respect for authority, and you see the results in the
home, the schools, in social organizations. There is a spiritual
crisis here."•••
"No, Africa is not making it [ said a taxi driver in Acera,
Ghana]•••• Look at Ghana, and what do you see? Nothing. This
country is rich. It has gold, diamonds, bauxite, but it is still
poor. Why? Because we want to go our own way, by ourselves, and
it is not possible."
"Politically, we are not making it [said a journalist in Mon
rovia, Liberia]•••• A fundamental fault in Africa is greed••.• It
starts at the top, and everybody follows, and it spreads like an
infection. We have been too greedy and too self-centered.
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"No, black Africa is not making it [ concluded a university pro
fessor, also in MonroviaJ. I think one can say that without
equivocation•.•• We saw Africa full of hope in the '60s. Inde
pendence was perceived to be the framework for political and eco
nomic self-actualization••.• Africa is going to require, for�
thing,� .!lfil! style of leadership that will instill� .!lfil! orien
tation to government and country,� way of thinking that will
permeate the way we work, the way we think about public property,
the way we establish public ac£ountability.
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