Swahili has been adopted as an official working language for the African Union (AU).
The African Union’s heads of state approved the language following a request from Tanzanian Vice-President Philip Mpango.
Mpango, who spoke during the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, argued that Swahili is among the most widely spoken languages on the continent, with more than 100 million speakers.
“Kiswahili is already in use in various communities including the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as well as a teaching language in many African countries,” he said.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set July 7th as World Kiswahili Language Day.
“The UN has set aside a day to fete Kiswahili. The language will be celebrated on July 7th every year. The decision has been passed by all members of UNESCO without any objection,” UNESCO said in a statement on Tuesday.
Swahili, which has its origins in East Africa, is the first African dialect to be recognized by UNESCO.
The language is spoken in over 14 countries including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Comoros, and as far as Oman and Yemen in the Middle East, according to the UN.
Ureeee! soko uria lipanuke…
Ureeee! soko uria lipanuke afrika yote na kufungua mipaka bila visa kwa wafrika
This people going backward
This people going backward
Colonial mindset, of course,…
Colonial mindset, of course, you would not see the pan Africanism in this. ugh
A very good move. Two thumbs…
A very good move. Two thumbs up.
Time start being proud of…
Time start being proud of our own. Awhile back on learning that I was from Kenya, a Naija acquaintance pocked fun at the idea of swahili being taught in Nigeria,in line with panafricanism. I asked him what he would say if the idea was being advanced by wazungu,he merely brushed it off.
Yes @ Kenya, this is agood move.Language does more than just communicating with each other,its a source of identity…
@Mr. Collusion what do you…
@Mr. Collusion what do you mean by backward?
For Africans there is nowhere else to go. Yes we are going backwards to find where we lost our peace.
Yes. We are going backwards; back to who we are.
Mr. Collusion, ” To speak is to live for another”. We have lived for another for too long. It’s time to live for ourselves and posterity.
Well done African Union. It took you long, but better late than never!!!
Anonymous I beg to…
Anonymous I beg to respectfully differ
@ Mr.Collusion:
At what…
@ Mr.Collusion:
At what point did Africans get lost and became real slaves of the West?
When our cultures were corrupted, we ceased to use our names and our languages – In other words we lost our identity.
People from:China uses Chinese language/Chinese names
Germany uses German language/German named
France uses French language/ French names
Britain uses British English/British names
America uses American English/American names
Russia uses Russian language/ Russian names
All these people have retained their identity.
Where is the identity of the African. Both the Africans in Africa and those in diaspora who were taken as slaves.
@ Mr. Collusion, a gun was used to force Africans to use the English language.
Yes, Africans are going back. If you stand on the way of our going back you will be crashed by the wave, if you stand on the side you will witness a spectacular sight of a people getting back their identity, inheritance, and following their God.
If you still wish to differ, think again. This time you are on the wrong side of history!!
Great.. Civilizations…
Great.. Civilizations prospered due to one language. These 100m ppl use 200 mama tongues. That impedes and slows trade, communication, etc. Time is money. People think in native language then translate to 2nd language b4 responding and that’s a waste of time/money. Kiswahili kitukuzwe. Sasa ni saa tisa
Kiswahili kitukuke…
Kiswahili kitukuke,kiendelezwe, kisifike, kidumishwe, kisambazwe na kitukuzwe. Kama kuna sampuli ya Waafrika ambao wanjichukie wenyewe, ni Wakenya hapa Marekani. Nakumbuka jinsi mchungaji mmoja aivyohangaishwa na baadaye kutimuliwa na waumini wa asili ya Kenya kutoka usimamizi wa kanisa moja mle Baltimore. Kisa na maana? Alihubiri na kuendesha shughuri za kanisa katika lugha tukufu ya Kiswahili. Wakenya ni watu wenye kiburi na wana mazoea ya kuwadunisha wote wanaoegemeza imani yao katika asili yetu