The following column from the Kampala paper, The Monitor, was seen on AllAfrica.com at http://allafrica.com/stories/200702270628.html . It and another I will post shortly discuss the role of Swahili in Uganda and East Africa as a whole. Don
Uganda: Put Kiswahili On East African Agenda The Monitor (Kampala) http://www.monitor.co.ug/ OPINION February 27, 2007 Posted to the web February 27, 2007 Agnes Kabajuni This excerpt from a BBC website (February 8) in the words of a French MP Monsieur Myard on defending the French language from English dominance: "Respect people... all this has to stop... I think this is very dangerous, because the French language is the spirit of France and of every Frenchman... So it would be a big mistake for enterprises who want to do business in France to impose their own culture. We French were imperialists long before them, so we know how it works...it is time for us to react and say to businesses - stop your nonsense! Respect people. Learn French. Learn German, learn Chinese and Arabic, as well as English." made me think of our own Kiswahili It reminded me of how in Africa there is no country (except Tanzania) that has a unified language, well developed, promoted and used alongside an imperialistic language. Countries like Ethiopia, Seychelles, and Egypt might be the only ones who at least promote Amharic, Creole and Arabic respectively. Where does this leave the rest? What are the African values that our leaders front in the international society? Where is our pride? These are questions for leaders to ponder. If for example different regions of Africa adopted a common language and developed it, it would increase unity, solidarity of its people. East Africa is a unique region which with the help of Julius Nyerere's (RIP) ideology had started the promotion of Kiswahili; a language believed to have developed from Kiunguja mixed with vocabularies from Arabic because of the Arabic trade and occupation of Zanzibar in the 16th century. Tanzania did so well that the language though criticised of thwarting the local languages contributed to fighting tribalism. Kenya might be said to have also progressed, but there is still conflicting interests with the dominating local languages. Other countries like Congo, Rwanda and Burundi the new entrants in the region are also said to be making big strides in terms of promoting Kiswahili. That leaves Uganda; we have had debates and counter debates over the language. We have tried to legislate on the language, we incorporated it into the education policy and even Kiswahili is being taught in the university and in some schools, but we are not aggressive enough, there is still strong resistance among some peoples and in my opinion the government has not prioritised its growth. Why do people have to keep using the false excuse that Kiswahili brings back memories of brutality during the Idi Amin era? Have they ever asked why we did not resist English because it represented British imperialism? Language is unity The common phrase among politicians in the region is increasingly being "federation of East African states" right? We might talk of economic federation, possibly achieve the political federation, but we are missing out a very important aspect of social federation; the very strand of East African pride, respect and uniting value--the language. Uganda, the champion in the debate, is doing poorly here. How can we talk of common markets without referring to common understanding, common language? Which better language do we have than Kiswahili? When people talk of their common value, unity, solidarity and collective interest, the first thing to run in their minds is the language its importance being participation, education, and nation-building. It hurts when all we can identify ourselves by is that we were all "British colonies". It has moreover been over taken by events. Rwanda and Burundi are outside that particular commonality and it is here I call my country and East African leaders in general to go back to Nyerere's notes. According to Wikipedia, a Web Encyclopedia, a national language is the one that uniquely represents the national identity of a nation or country. It is used for political and legal discourse and so designated by a country's government. It is possible to have two national languages as the case of Canada which uses both French and English. A national language is not to be confused with the predominant language, which is spoken by the majority of people from within a country's borders. Other people might wonder how Kiswahili would cope up with technological advancement in terms of internet and other electronic media. The Good news is that while we are taking our time to strengthen our focus on the language, companies like Microsoft East Africa are already targeting the language for software programmes thus short of making it one of the global internet languages. Ahead of other languages they are considering like; Hausa, Amharic and Yoruba. Of course this has an implication for the federated East Africa; to assume a stronger position in South of Sahara. Language can also be a representative of political and economic strength especially when it is adopted as a business tool. We can slowly make investors use Kiswahili for their business promotion. Think how easy and cost effective it would if programmes targeting at educating the masses like HIV/Aids campaign were developed in Kiswahili through out East Africa! At continent level, Kiswahili is a recognised official language of the African Union. This in itself gives the language a new lease of life to compete favourably with English and other non indigenous lingua franca like English, French, Spanish and Portuguese on the continent. At international level, in Germany, China, America (University of California and University of Michigan), Britain (BBC) Kiswahili is either recognised in education or the media. Popularising it as part of federated East Africa will only serve to increase its acceptance and recognition by even the international community and that would be a leap for the region and Africa as well. Kiswahili is now spoken or understood by about 80 to 100 million people in the great lakes region. That is high a score by any measure. "Pamaja tutaunganishwa kwa amaani na kimaendeleo" (together we shall be united for peace and prosperity). The writer is a student of human rights, University of Essex, United Kingdom Copyright © 2007 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Plot 29-35, 8th Street,Industrial Area, P.O. Box 12141, Kampala, Uganda 256 41 232367 or 236939 [EMAIL PROTECTED] **************************** Disclaimer ****************************** Copyright: In accordance with Title 17, United States Code Section 107, this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material posted to this list for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Content: The sender does not vouch for the veracity nor the accuracy of the contents of this message, which are the sole responsibility of the copyright owner. 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