A ‘think piece’ that influenced much of the subsequent research in the Africa Power and Politics Programme, later published with revisions in Development Policy Review. It identifies a core set of beliefs and values – concerning power, accountability and social morality – that have proved extremely durable and remain powerful drivers of behaviour across sub‐Saharan Africa. It raises the question of how to redirect development efforts so that they stop working against, and start to build upon, the related notions of moral obligation and interpersonal accountability.