AU adoption of Kiswahili as official working language good for integration
Heads of state and delegates at the African Union headquarters during the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, on February 5, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Last November, Unesco designated July 7 as the World Kiswahili Language Day.
- Proponents of Kiswahili cite its ability to boost regional integration.
When, on July 7, 1954, the Tanganyika African National Union (Tanu) was founded in Dar es Salaam under the leadership of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Kiswahili was declared a key tool in Africa’s struggle for liberation.
And last November, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) designated July 7 as the World Kiswahili Language Day. It becomes the first African language to be so recognised by Unesco.
Kiswahili is among 10 most widely spoken languages globally, with about 200 million speakers. It is widely spoken in 12 African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Comoros. South Africa and Botswana have introduced it in schools and Namibia will soon follow suit. It is also spoken in Oman and Yemen.
Early this month, the African Union’s Assembly of Heads of State and Government approved its use as an official working language after 35 years since its adoption was first recommended by the OAU. In 2004, ex-Mozambique leader Joachim Chisano pulled a surprise by addressing the AU assembly in Addis Ababa in Kiswahili, prompting a frantic search for interpreters.
Boost regional integration
Efforts to recognise Kiswahili were championed by Pan-Africanists like Mwalimu Nyerere, whose ‘Swahilisation’ policy saw Tanzania, a country with 120 indigenous languages, adopt it as the national language. The language was also supported by eminent voices such as Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Mazrui and Wole Soyinka.
Proponents of Kiswahili cite its ability to boost regional integration and the fact that major world media such as Voice of America, British Broadcasting Corporation and Deutsche Welle run programmes in the language .
Kenya adopted Kiswahili as an official language in 1970. In 1974, the President Jomo Kenyatta declared it the national language. Article 7 of the 2010 Constitution declares Kiswahili the national language while Article 120 makes it one of the official languages in Parliament .
Kiswahili is expected to play a key role in regional political, social, economic and cultural integration.
Mr Mwachinga is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. [email protected]
