This archive report was first published on 11 September 2019.
On September 9, 2019, the Ugandan Government made a significant move towards promoting Kiswahili as the second official language by endorsing the establishment of the Uganda National Kiswahili Council.
According to Mr. Ofwono Opondo, the executive director of Uganda Media Centre, the council's main objective is to guide the introduction of Kiswahili as the second national language, as mandated by the Constitution.
Mr. Opondo stated that the Constitution provides for two national languages, English and Swahili, but that Swahili has not been used effectively. He emphasized that the council will recruit Swahili teachers to deploy in schools and oversee the establishment of a policy, legal, and institutional framework for promoting Kiswahili.
English has been Uganda's sole official language since independence in 1962, but in 2005, Kiswahili was proposed as the country's second official language due to its neutral nature.
