When Jamaican Prime Minister and leader of the People's National Party, Michael Manley, came to power in 1972, he instituted a series of socialist socio-economic reforms. His domestic policy sent Jamaica’s middle and upper classes, whose wealth was widely accumulated during a Colonial age where the poor were exploited, into a panic. The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, sensing an opportunity to transfer the elite’s wealth into the poor’s hands, embarked on a campaign that would help the wealthy move their fortunes outside of the country whilst simultaneously investing that capital into the hands of farmers and workers. With the wealth of the Jamaican elite at their disposal, the church could support local businesses and promote self-reliance, in accordance with Marcus Garvey's principles.