President Yoweri Museveni has said Kiswahili language is a major ingredient in accelerating East Africa Community (EAC) Political integration. President Museveni made the observation in a speech read on his behalf by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, during the conclusion of a three day Second World Kiswahili Day, 2023 at Kampala’s Hotel Africana on Friday.
President Museveni said apart from accelerating EAC Political integration, Kiswahili language is also important in the EAC Region for prosperity and security.
“We should promote Kiswahili in the EAC trade to capture the big market of the region’s population for the prosperity of our people,”he said.
On security, Museveni said Kiswahili is important for intelligence gathering and sharing of security information to fight terrorism, which is currently a big challenge in the EAC bloc and beyond.
“People of the EAC share a common life and heritage, which is why Kiswahili language is detribalized in such a way; that anyone within the region can learn the language very easily,”he added.
The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga, said East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) is in the process of amending the EAC treaty to enable EALA Legislatures debate in Kiswahili language.
Mrs. Edith Mwanje, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of EAC Affairs, denounced the narrative that Kiswahili was born in Tanzania, fell sick in Kenya, died in Uganda and was buried in DR Congo. She said Uganda is committed to prove this narrative wrong by increasing the number of Kiswahili teachers in primary and secondary schools.
At the end of the Second World Kiswahili Day, Rwanda was selected to host the Third World Kiswahili Day in 2024. The EAC Council of Ministers directed that the event be hosted rationally among member states. The First EAC World Kiswahili Day Celebrations were held in Zanzibar from 6 to 7 July 2022.
This year’s World Kiswahili Day was marked under the theme: “Kiswahili and multilingualism: Achieving more together”. The celebrations attracted representatives from all Seven EAC member states, the EAC Secretary General, East Africa Kiswahili Commission, Kiswahili language academic gurus and Ugandan members of parliament among others.
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