On 26 August 2019, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) adopted Kiswahili as a region-wide lingua franca at its summit in Dar es Salaam.
This decision was made in recognition of the role Kiswahili could play in bringing the peoples of the region closer together, enhancing cooperation in the political, economic, cultural, and social spheres.
However, this decision may prove to be an embarrassment to Tanzania, given the way the country's elite have treated Kiswahili. As Jenerali Ulimwengu noted in his Kiswahili column over 25 years ago, Tanzania's negligence towards Kiswahili has led to a situation where Unesco would find Kiswahili teachers in Kenya, not Tanzania.
The Tanzanian elite view Kiswahili as a second-rate language, only suitable for haggling over prices or telling lies to the masses. In contrast, Kiswahili is the tongue of gossip, banter, and light-hearted exchanges.
Prof Chacha Nyaigoti-Chacha, a prominent Kenyan educationalist, has often bemoaned the shabby treatment of Kiswahili in Tanzania. The biggest culprits in this are the country's politicians and rulers, who should at least master the national language.
When Tanzania celebrated 10 years of independence, not a single award went to a Kiswahili luminary. This lack of recognition for Kiswahili is a reflection of the country's elite's disdain for the language.
As Jenerali Ulimwengu noted, Tanzania has had the fortune of having an easily imposable national language, but the country's elite treat it with disdain. They speak English to their children and insist on taking them to English-medium schools, while ignoring Kiswahili.
Now, the politicians in Dar are congratulating themselves on the promotion of Kiswahili to SADC level, but they will be hard-put to produce the teachers to send to Southern Africa. Teachers will still come from Kenya, and later, even from Mozambique, DR Congo, and Namibia.
