Swahili: Coming to birth?
Swahili is recognized as one of the official languages of the African Union (AU), alongside English, Portuguese, French, Spanish and Arabic. Swahili is also the lingua franca for East Africa Community (EAC) member states.
Rwanda, an EAC member, saw its lower legislative house approve a law making Swahili an official language in 2017 – in addition to Kinyarwanda, French and English. Besides being used for administrative purposes, Swahili will be incorporated into Rwanda’s school curriculum.
In Uganda, the government in September 2019 approved the establishment of the National Swahili Council. Article 6 (2) of the Constitution of Uganda also spells out that “Swahili shall be the second official language in Uganda to be used in such circumstances as Parliament may by law prescribe.”
In 2018, South Africa, which boasts 11 official languages, formalized Swahili as an optional subject in its curriculum, starting in 2020. In 2019, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) adopted Swahili as its fourth official language.