The Wrong Decision

A former student of language and literary studies at the then University of Yaounde, Douglas Achingale is today a researcher in the literatures at the University of Yaounde 1. He was trained as a Social Welfare Administrator at the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM), Yaounde, and currently works as Sub-Director in Cameroon’s Ministry of Social Affairs. He was a laureate in the National Book Development Council poetry contest in 1994 and the Transparency International short story competition on corruption in 2002. Achingale has also worked as Columnist and Editor for many English language newspapers and magazines in Cameroon, including The Herald. His other books are Oppression, Before I Die and No to Terrorism

• Book Category Drama
• Year of Publication 12-13-2017
• Number of Pages 83
• Book ISBN 978-9956-454-54-0

In a society that is rigged by institutionalized corruption and an amateurish political system that feeds on its own ineffiiency, truth and honesty are heretic values that can only be cherished by the most peripheral. Recent works from Cameroon have either been scathing attacks in this political system or critiques of the social climate in the country. Achingale’s latest play deliberately avoids such obvious, overt political themes but by no means remains apolitical. The playwright artfully foregrounds the simple striving of ordinary people against the backdrop of elemental political corruption and successfully depicts the institutional failure in the postcolonial nation-state and its attendant vexatious social upshots in the most subtle, yet poignant, tone...Douglas Achingale’s pedagogic drive for which his previous works are reputed is unmistakable in this play. His successful combination of the virulence of Bate Besong and the subtleness of Bole Butake sets him on the path towards a new genre in Cameroonian drama. This is a play that deserves a place in our school syllabi both for its pedagogic and moral undertones...