Prepararations in top gear as Kenya hosts World Kiswahili Language Day

Preparations are in top gear for the World Kiswahili Language Day celebrations set to be held in Mombasa on Saturday, July 6, and Sunday, July 7, respectively.

Kenya will be hosting the celebrations for the first time since the United Nations declared July 7 as World Kiswahili Language Day in 2022.

The organisers of the event who spoke to The Eastleigh Voice said this year's event will culminate in a series of activities that will seek to honour and promote the Kiswahili language.

Prof. Kimani Njogu and Nuhu Bakari, an award-winning author and expert in lexicography, stated that the event is significant as it will attract scholars from all Kiswahili-speaking nations, as well as enthusiasts and researchers from around the world.

"We expect very many visitors from the East African region and other places around the world where the Kiswahili language has already penetrated," said Njogu.

Njogu said a raft of far-reaching pronouncements by the government are expected to be made, while sideline events like poetry recitations and literary discourses will be performed.

The main events during the historic celebrations will include Usiku wa Mswahili, where the agenda will mainly revolve around how to promote it as the continent's foremost language.

President William Ruto, along with several leaders, including Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Sheriff Nassir, is expected to be the chief guest at the celebrations. The County Assembly of Mombasa has endorsed a motion aimed at promoting the use of Kiswahili in debates, discussions, and official communications within the assembly.

The event is coming to fruition a month after Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa formed a National Organising Committee, comprising 17 members, to arrange for the third World Kiswahili Day celebrations from July 5 to 7 this year.

Prof. Kimani Njogu, a linguist and cultural scholar, speaks at a past event. (Photo: Prof. Kimani Njogu/X)

"Kenya has been granted the opportunity to host this year's celebrations. We must make the necessary preparations and convince those who proposed our name that they made the right choice," Jumwa said.

According to the CS, one of the outcomes of the event would be the introduction of a National Kiswahili-Speaking Day in the country.

"There'll be a special day set aside when every Kenyan, including the President, judges in courts, civil servants, and teachers, will be expected to speak exclusively in Kiswahili," Jumwa said.

"It has taken a long time after being presented to the Office of the Attorney-General, but that is because the bill has to be translated into Kiswahili," she said.

Parliament has already passed a motion proposed by Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan to establish the National Swahili Council. The committee responsible is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the implementation procedures.

Meanwhile, Zanzibar hosted the inaugural event which was presided over by President Hussein Ali Mwinyi. That was a year after the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), sitting in Paris, France, declared July 7 the World Kiswahili Language Day.

It remains to be seen if the calls by Kiswahili language advocates for giving the language its rightful status will be heeded. At a press conference held at Ufungamano House a few months ago, a lobby led by Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan, Prof. Kimani Njogu, and renowned Swahili poet Nuhu Bakari urged President William Ruto's administration and all devolved units to promote Kiswahili by using it in all official functions and correspondences.

The lobby comprised Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa (CHAKITA), Chama cha Ukuzaji wa Kiswahili Duniani (CHAUKIDU), and Chama cha Wanahabari wa Kiswahili (CHAWAKI), amongst others.

Kiswahili Lecturer and Researcher Yuning Shen of Zhejiang Teachers College in China speaks during the press briefing at Ufungamano House in Nairobi on Saturday. (Photo: Barack Oduor)