Showing results by author "Janvier Chouteu-Chando" in All Categories

Dubbed by many pundits as “The Most Stupid War in the World,” the Ukraine conflict is one that hardly anyone saw coming back in 2010. However, it is close to a decade old already. In this conflict in the evenly divided Ukraine, brinkmanship by the local players in the country, by the West that wants to drag Ukraine into its orbit, and by Russia that fears losing Ukraine and its security in the process, is the norm. At the same time, the world watches in a seemingly helpless manner as Ukraine gets torn apart at the seams. Most of the governments in the West blame Russia for instigating ...

In this brave and chilling account of the post-Soviet space, the author provides us with a fascinating insight into Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and the other republics of the Soviet Union through the larger-than-life character of Boris Petrenkov who leads us by the hand through his world, his mind, and the characters he interacts with. This smooth and fascinating ride into a part of the world that people find mysterious comes with explosive revelations that take us through history from the times of Kievan Rus a millennia ago, to the Golden Horde of the Mongols, czarist Russia, the Soviet ...

The Usurper: and Other Stories is an engaging collection that cuts through race, culture, religion, and creed. These short stories portray a unique perspective of traditional African life in the context of the modern world: 1. The son of a prince maneuvers his way to become the new king. Is he of royal blood? (The Usurper). 2. A reputable juju buckles under the threat of a mad cow, despite his powers to crush anything and anybody on its path. (Ngoko's Folly). 3. A clan head abuses his position and squanders the wealth that has been passed down from generation to generation until his angry ...

In this hilarious but insightful tall tale of how God gave Mankind the Ten Commandments through his prophet Moses and the ordeals that Moses went through to make humans accept it, Janvier Chouteu-Chando provides angles that are educative, hilarious and borderline offensive at the same time. However, the historical contexts of these insights reveal a side of our world that is difficult to confront.

As a German colony from 1884-1916, Kamerun was called "The African Pearl" for its human and material potential, and for its strategic position in Africa. The defeat of Germany in the First World War and the partition of the colony into British Cameroons and French Cameroon did not diminish the area's outsize role in the political and economic evolution of the continent. So, the quest by the land's civic nationalists to reunite the British-controlled and French-controlled territories and make Cameroon independent, raised concerns among the colonialists in Britain and France, who planned to ...

Marrying Sancho, the love of her life, is enough reason for Tatiana to forgo a desire to serve The Lord. So, the last day of their honeymoon in the exotic Windward and Leeward Caribbean islands of the Lesser Antilles is expected to be special. However, a terrorist attack calls into question this young couple's idyllic honeymoon. Suddenly Tatiana and Sancho find themselves in an atmosphere where love also entails killing for a set of beliefs. An escape from the reality of their world is all that Tatiana seeks. And she is determined to take Sancho with him. "The Sweetest Madness" comes before...

Jeremiah is a sage with a job that many people envy, even though hardly anyone understands the true nature of the burden the occupation heaps on his soul. As the emissary of ancestors and divines, he thinks he is doing okay until he shepherds the clueless Joseph on a journey that brings him face-to-face with the horrors of his ways. Joseph needs a lifeline. His earlier life as the inheritor of a legacy that involved wealth, power and goodness has been tainted by his embrace of evil, which leaves death and grief in its path. He knows what he is about to face and thinks that Jeremiah, a man ...

For a people that lost more than half a million lives in a liberation struggle for the independence and reunification of their country yet failed to shake off the oppressive external forces who allowed self-rule and reunification of British Cameroons and former French Cameroun but put their puppets in power in a so-called independent Cameroon, this country known as “Africa in Miniature” is an Orwellian reality. It is hard for a non-Cameroonian mind to imagine that there are tidy solutions or pithy fixes to the big challenges in overcoming the reactionary forces responsible for ...

Jeremiah Nana spends an enriching day with two sages and gets an insight into a fascinating people. The experience leaves him with more questions than answers. Does the action of a fake reflect the centuries-old tradition of a people whose meaning of life revolves around an icon that suffers from deception? The custodians of a legacy and a bright-eyed soul seek an answer to that riddle. "Ngoko's Folly" is sequentially after "The Usurper", and precedes "The Verdict of Hades" in the collection of short stories entitled "The Usurper: and Other Stories".

Ketcha, a variously-gifted man stubbornly pursues a hazy path in life that brings only moments of joy and satisfaction, but no happiness. Over time, life becomes grim for him. It is as if there is no correlation between his thoughts, feelings and actions. He craves love and finds it more frequently than most men, but he can’t help acting against those who love him. He brings them joy, and then grief, even as he tries not to. His moments of satisfaction never transform into happiness as a loss he can’t get over haunts his present, seeming to doom him forever. Ketcha’s dedicated brother...

In this tumultuous story of rugged characters who retain their zest for life, the postulation that ideas are like fire holds, as events prove that ideas can burn the world as well as illuminate it. So, when old man Joe battles his descendants in their conflicting journeys through life, he does so in a manner that reveals man's innate goodness. However, by doing so, he is not advocating for humanity alone. In a world where it is increasingly relevant for the body to be in harmony with the mind, spirit, and soul, "Dark Shades" provides insights into the nature of a serene society and ...

When the debased Njoumen seeks sanctuary in his grandfather's royal palace, her number one concern is her mental health. As she glosses in her recovered status as a princess and unleashes the full force of her free-spiritedness, her unfamiliar ways make her the source of attention. But nobody has an idea of what would make her contented in life. That is until she engages her grandfather the king. What she wants most is a man to make her feel fulfilled in life, a sense of worth her husband never stirred in her bosom. So, when three years later, Njoumen's dejected husband challenges this ...

A teenage girl who is about to take a leap of faith seeks the counsel of his insightful uncle. But all he can provide are insights. Does a journey that takes her to the heart of altruism, charity and solidarity, bigotry, racism, and divine providence provide the guidelines that can help her come to terms with her destiny? Does his insightful hand-in-hand lead provide the answers she needs? “Fateful Ties” proceeds “The Fire and Ice Legend”, and precedes “The Sweetest Madness” in the short stories collection entitled “Me Before Them”.