Publisher: Spears Media Press, Cameroon
Comedy in Four Acts
Under the misguided
leadership of Chief Kamona, the people of Mballa village voraciously
destroy their forests for fuelwood and money. However, most of the
revenue goes to Kamona and his family. When the national government
dispatches Functionary, a forestry agent, to caution them against the
illegal and wanton destruction of their forests, Kamona and his people
chase him away from their community. They won’t also heed the counsel of
Kamona’s young nephew, Toubili who tries in vain to convince them that
Functionary is right. Chief Kamona and his people focus their defiance
against the government by cutting down even more trees, determined that
the forest must scream and bleed in their hands. Will Kamona and his
people survive the devastating consequences of their destruction of the
forest?
£16.00
About the author
Henri Djombo is a seasoned politician, novelist and playwright from the Republic of Congo. Djombo was born in 1952 in Enyellé village in the Likouala Region in northern Congo-Brazzaville. He holds a Master’s degree in Forestry Economics from the Forestry Technology Academy in Leningrad, present-day St Petersburg, in the former USSR. Between 1980 and 2021, he served in various ministerial capacities in his native Congo, including as Minister of Water and Forests (1980-1985), Minister of Sustainable Development, Forest Economy and Environment (2009-2016), and Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (2016-2021). He is a member of the Political Bureau of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) and has served four terms as a Member of Parliament. He is currently MP for the Enyellé Constituency. He has published ten novels, including Lumières des temps perdu, Vous mourrez dans dix jours, Sur la braise, and Gahi ou l’affaire autochtone, among others. His other plays include Les Bénévoles and Le Mal de terre. Djombo has won many literary prizes such as le Prix Amadou-Cissé-Dia du théâtre (2018), le Prix littéraire Jean-Malonga (2019), and le Prix Toussaint L’Ouverture (2019).
Osée Colins Koagne is a Cameroonian stage director, playwright, and environmental theatre promoter. He was born on 14 October 1973 in Bafoussam, Cameroon. He received theatre training at the Franco-Cameroonian Alliance in Garoua, Cameroon and at the Sartrouville Theatre in Paris, France. Upon his return from France, he trained as an environmentalist under a German NGO in North Cameroon and managed the Centre for Rural Education in Ngong, about 200km from Garoua. Thanks to his activism on desertification, Koagne was invited by Sylvestre Naah Ondoa, the then Cameroon Minister of Environment and Forests, to participate in the first Conference of Ministers of Environment for the Sustainable Management of Central African Forests in Yaoundé in 2000. Thereafter, Koagne undertook an international tour to share his expertise and experience in the central African sub-region. Koagne was invited by Minister Henri Djombo to settle in Congo-Brazzaville in 2001 as a Technical Assistant at the Congolese Ministry of Forest Economy, Sustainable Development and Environment. Koagne now resides in Brazzaville and manages the Association pour la Culture de Protection de la Faune et de la Flore (ACPF), a pro-environment NGO.
Review
“The
playwright presents the dynamics of the involvement of local communities
in the climate change debate in a very engaging manner. The play
focuses on the percolation of the environmental protection discourses at
the local level, stressing the indispensable need for better
communication as well as synergy between traditional and state
authorities. In effect, finding common ground between global concepts,
state policy and local practices constitutes a crucial ingredient of
legitimacy building, co-responsibility and trust in tackling
environmental issues.”
Gilbert Ndi-Shang, PhD Author of The Radio and Other Stories
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