Politics on wheels

‘You know what the problem is here in Côte d’Ivoire? Alassane (Ouattara), the president. What’s his problem? He’s honest, that’s the problem. It’s bad for business! With the last guy (Laurent Gbagbo) things were good. We were enjoying ourselves: rackets here, rackets there, rackets everywhere. Everyone was stealing, money was rolling around, one million here, two million there… Good! Now there is nothing more to waste because Alassane has put everything under lock and key. He’s honest! No money anywhere!

Alassane, will he be re-elected? Of course, one hundred per cent. The last guy made such an incredible mess of things, you need one term to clean it all up and then we can go back to work. But right now, the money is not moving. What good is it when everyone is on the straight and narrow? No good at all! How can a society work if everyone’s honest?’

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The ban on journalists quoting taxi driver is hereby officially lifted. Thanks to half an hour of impeccable stream-of-consciousness from one Guinean taxi driver, in Abidjan.

Tags: Abidjan