Labah Nformi 
Nkambe:The Ugly Vs the Beautiful 

A Synopsis of the Short Stories
Kola nuts have been talking and settling land disputes, uniting the people for so many years until a war veteran, Japri came back from the Great War from the white man’s land, started seizing land and raffia bushes that do not belong to him, and rejects the judgment passed by the “talking kola nuts”. This ushers in an endless tug of war between the farmers and the cattle rearers. The mainstream Chua Chua is getting dry, and drinking water is scarce. Dogo, an ex-prisoner cum environmentalist, comes with a radical, insane slogan, “No Chua Chua, No Nkambe; No Nile, No Egypt, ” clashes with Wanda and his traditional hunters. The administration is battling to solve these problems when Lake Nyos in a neighboring tribe explodes with devastating consequences on humans, cattle, and the environment.
The administration, modernists, and traditionalists are at crossroads. Scary faces appear at night; rumors of a ghost emerging in vengeance on the people because of a New Market constructed on its shrines. Unprecedented drought is looming in the harsh harmattan. Pagans instill fear amongst the Christians who have heard that Christmas will be postponed from an undisclosed source rumored to be a chief gossiper (Mami Kongossa), the rumormonger the women have vowed to arrest and send to jail. Her vile mouth is behind all conflicts in the village. She says young girls (ngwangu barah) want ready-made husbands and young boys are lazy (Big 7), want white-collar jobs. A silent war is waged (the ugly vs. the beautiful). One of the young men (Akambou) hits a jackpot in a game of chance but squanders all and goes insane. On the hills nearby an American veterinarian is given the highest traditional title by Nfuh, a war lodge, a general (nformi) for revamping cattle rearing. A few weeks later, good news is heard that the first president of the country is visiting Nkambe, the divisional headquarters. More than two hundred villages are set to give him a memorable reception with pomp, joy, and dance with great hopes for a bright future but little changes after the visit.

Про автора

Labah Nformi Ngome is former principal and proprietor of New Vision Academy, New Bell, Douala, Cameroon. He started his writing career at the University of Yaounde 1 with the publication of poems from his collection of poetry in the Wimbum Students’ Union (WISU) magazine. He read English language/literature, minor in performing arts. He performed on stage and television with the University of Yaounde Theater, notably in the plays The Gods Are Not to Blame by Ola Rotimi in which he played the role of Baba Fankunle (the blind soothsayer) and in The Survivor by Bole Butake in the role of the Old One. While teaching English language and literature, he also wrote sketches and poems that his students performed on local television stations in Douala. He has a collection of unpublished plays “No Chua Chua, No Nkambe, ” “Naked for Money, ” and ”The Soweto Sisters” a collection of short stories “Lunga and His People”, and a collection of poems “Many Bloody Rivers to Cross”. He is also a freelance writer and contributes articles on current issues to local newspapers in Cameroon. He also does movie reviews and edits movie scripts. He edited Too Deep by Paul Samba.
Presently he lives in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, with his wife and four kids, two boys and two girls.