Kiswahili as a language of Eastern Africa

Today, Africa finds itself subdivided into three major linguistic blocks, namely;
(a) Francophone-The French Speaking countries
(b) Anglophone- The English speaking countries
© Lusophone- The Portuguese speaking countries
(d) Arabsphone- The Arabic speaking countries
This subdivision shows how Africa is still dependency on foreign culture, which might have been
influencing its thoughts and world outlook. Mulokozi (idid) argue that on the one hand, the
opponents of Swahili language as medium of instruction based on the argument that “English is a
doorway to science and technology”, it is an international language and thus we need to learn it in
order be able to communicate with other people. Thus, according to Mulokozi (ibid:69) their
arguments are “technical and international”. On the other hand, proponents of Kiswahili as a
medium of instruction and emphasize that language has “a pedagogical aspects, that children learn
better in a language that they know best” Ryanga (2002:2) suggests that “Africa would do well to
take, and go for a linguistic emancipation instead of continued linguistic dependency, by adopting
existing indigenous language. One of the problems with the use of ”borrowed languges” is the fact
that we are not competent with them and the languages exclude the majority of citizen in the process
of discussing and participating in the decision making on vital issues which affect their life. As these
language (English, French, Portuguese) are language of elites, who are the minority. Ryanga (ibid)
further argue that “we need to accept the realization that the formation of economic regional bodies
and political affiliation alone has failed to unite the African thought. Language may be the missing
link in continental unity. Kiswahili is the only African language which has proved that it has a
potential and unifying power. The commitment and vision to transform it to a national language has
been successfully in Tanzania. Africa in general and East Africa in particular needs such an
indigenous language. Several scholars have acknowledged that Kiswahili is a potential language to
develop internationally particularly in East Africa. For instance, Ryanga (2002:3) suggest that

Kiswahili is hereby proposed as the most viable indigenous language that Africa has and probably
one, which can be easily acceptable. As a lingua-Franca for East Africa since 19th century has now
gained recognition beyond its traditional confines with a wide Spread in Africa

In contrast to other indigenous African languages such as Hausa, Arabic, Luganda, chiluba, Lingala,
choking and others, Kiswahili is seen as a neutral, harmless, it has neither ethnic nor political
connotation, it is easy language to learn, since its phonetic has less speaking and pronunciation
complicatin. Ryanga (ibid) suggest that “Kiswahili is a language which is easier to further develop it
from where it is current, to give it a wide stature than most of other indigenous language in east and
central Africa”. Similarly, Mulokozi (2003) point out that the growth and spread of Kiswahili as a
national language in Tanzania was supported by economic and social factors, and these factors still
exists at East African level, thus, it is worthwhile to expect and suggest that it will also develop and
expand as international language, starting with the East African sub-region. I did not mentioned
political factor above, since I am of the view, political commitment and vision in Tanzania supported
its development and expansion as a national language, that is a big challenge for its to be
transformed into an international language, for instance in East Africa. Decision makers of these
countries have a vital role to play for its development.

The viability of Kiswahili in East Africa

Kiswahili is one of the three African indigenous sub-continental languages. Other two are Hausa and
Arabic. However, Kiswahili has been gaining more acceptance and sympathy than Hausa and Arabic
through out Africa and abroad. It is the “most important African lingua franca” (Bull, 2003:234).
Thus, the number of its speakers are estimated to be 110 millions (Mulokozi, ibid: 73; Ryanga, ibid:
6). As already mentioned previous in this paper, today, Kiswahili is spoken and taught in many
African, Far East, Europe and America. In East Africa, Kiswahili has already emerged as Eastern
Africa Language though to some extents informally. For instance, In Uganda, Kiswahili was
undermined by Luganda, but Luganda has lost its popularity due to its association with Baganda. In