Good news for friends of Kiswahili in Rwanda.
Since Rwanda adopted Kiswahili as its forth official language in 2016, so many things and remarkable progress were made at different levels in and outside the country.
So many regional technical meetings and workshops have taken place including one in Entebbe in Uganda last year and Arusha Tanzania at the end of March this year attended by people like,
Professor Malonga , one of the best known promoters and Kiswahili stakeholders in Rwanda having pioneered radio and TV Kiswahili lessons ,started or helped set up Rwanda Kiswahili journalists association and Kiswahili secondary school teachers association currently active in the search for ways forward towards Kiswahili development and use for regional integration and sustainable development of our country together with other stakeholders.
In this framework, at the invitation and facilitation by the East African Kiswahili Commission EAKC, Prof. Pacifique Malonga, Prof. Cyprien Niyomugabo and journalist Sylvanus Kalemera attended a three Days Training of trainers in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, as to identity the needs and resources required for future strategic planning of EAKC. They were together with representatives from other member states including Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania andUganda.
From the Arusha training ,The East African Kiswahili commission (EAKC) has organized a national Kiswahili workshop and training of fifteen (15) Rwandan researchers including journalists, University lecturers, secondary school teachers, Civil Society, religious denomination who after a three days investigation and research training conducted by the three known experts in the field of Kiswahili language Malonga, Niyomugabo and Kalemera together with the East African Kiswahili commission Executive secretary prof Kenneth Inyani Simala at hotel chez lando, from 4th to 5th April 2018.
On Monday 16th April, they launched a national Kiswahili inquiry or investigation throughout the country to get the actual and real situation of Kiswahili in Rwanda.
The exercise carried out by all the fifteen trained researchers is ending to day on 20th April leading to data from various governmental, non-governmental, private sector, schools, religious entities, individuals and different groups of people.
The ongoing research shall help both the Government of Rwanda and the East African Kiswahili commission have tangible and reliable information on the real situation of this EAC lingua franca and the way forward towards its development and use for faster communication, regional integration of EAC and Africa as a whole having in mind that people can only develop if they are united, have one vision, one identity and talk the same LANGUAGE.
With many thanks for the cooperation from Rwanda respondents and Rwandans in general, it is expected that once all the data are collected from ALL the six EAC member states, since such exercise is undergoing in all EAC member states, the commission shall proceed to the data analysis and come up with a final document report to be validated by relevant authorities in August 2018.
The challenge is real but surely together we stand and yes we shall make it. “Penye nia hapakosi njia” where there is a will there is a way and as president Julius Kambarange Nyerere once said “Nia tunayo, sababu tunayo na uwezo tunao, Hivyo tutaweza”!
Prof. Pacifique Malonga
Independent Journalist
E-mail: becos1@yahoo.fr
