East Africa parliament blocks use of Kiswahili in its sessions

Arusha. Kiswahili, recently made an official language of the Community, was blocked on Wednesday from being used in the regional Assembly.

Legislators from some partner states could not allow its use, insisting that English remain the working language of the East African Community (EAC).

The saga, which nearly divided the MPs down the middle, started when a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) from DR Congo was debating a motion on the recent terror attacks in Uganda.

Ms Dorothe Masirika Nganiza was making her contribution about the brutal killings in western Uganda when, along the way, she pleaded to switch to Kiswahili from English.

The soft-spoken MP did not know that her request would be met with stiff opposition from fellow lawmakers from nearly all the partner states.

She remained standing in the Chamber as other MPs interjected on a Point of Order; a system used to allow the lawmakers on the bench to clarify the matter being debated.

Gabriel Alaak Garang from South Sudan rose in a huff, saying that, to the best of his knowledge, English was the working language of the EAC.

“Those who cannot express themselves in English should look for other alternatives. Matters pertaining to Eala should be transacted in English,” he stressed. Mr Garang cautioned that allowing Kiswahili to be used in Eala could invite new challenges. “Other partner states like South Sudan would propose Arabic,” he said.

Ms Fracois Rutazana from Rwanda implored the DRC legislator to keep on debating the issue in English because what mattered was “the content of the motion”.

But Mary Mugyenyi from Uganda intervened, saying that since the struggling DR Congo lawmaker “has a point to make,” she should be allowed to speak in Kiswahili.

Alternatively, she called for speeding up the installation of interpretation equipment for Kiswahili and French, which were last year made official languages of the EAC.

At that juncture, Eala Speaker Joseph Ntakirutimana intervened, saying the House rules and procedures dictate that debates be conducted in English.

He said the regional Assembly would stick to the order unless the rules were changed or the EAC Treaty was reviewed to accommodate the same.

David Ole Sankok from Kenya challenged this, noting that there was always a way to adjust the laws so as to achieve the desired results, recommending that the ‘stranded’ MP be allowed to proceed in Kiswahili.

He said Eala adjusted its rules and regulations during the Covid-19 era by allowing virtual meetings following travel restrictions in the region.

He implored the Speaker to use his discretion so that the DRC legislator could continue debating the terror attacks in Uganda in Kiswahili.

It was at that point that Dorothe resumed her contribution in English, expressing her dismay over the attacks at a school that cost 43 lives in the Kasese area of Uganda. The Ugandan government has blamed the Friday night massacre on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an outfit operating from the jungles of eastern DRC.

The role of Kiswahili at the regional Assembly has come at a time of deepening scrutiny of the status of the language, already declared an official language of the EAC.

Some legislators at the ongoing sitting in Arusha raised the matter last week, saying that usage of the popular language was not given the priority it deserved.

Those passionate about it fear that Kiswahili is likely to be overtaken by French in official communication within the EAC and its organs and institutions with the increase of French-speaking nations in the bloc.

Under the current EAC Treaty, which has not been reviewed since its launch in 1999, the official language of the Community shall be English.

Kiswahili, which is the national language of two member states, Tanzania and Kenya, shall be developed as the lingua franca of the Community.

Further arguments in the EAC corridors and thereabouts had it that although Kiswahili and French have been cleared as official languages of the bloc, English is a working language for day-to-day transactions.