Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government will continue working closely with all stakeholders involved in promoting Kiswahili on the international platform, and in turn boost the country’s status.
This was said Thursday by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa in Dar es Salaam, where he was gracing the 2021 annual Kiswahili Awards for African Literature themed Kiswahili for Economic Development.
Premier Majaliwa said that since Kiswahili was recognised as one of the ten most used languages in the world and the fourth in Africa, it was high time more efforts were directed towards promoting it including sending experts to foreign countries to teach it.
He called on Tanzanian foreign envoys to introduce Kiswahili classes in the countries of representation, which will open doors for more Tanzania Swahili teachers to land in lucrative employment in countries where Tanzania has embassies.
Mr Majaliwa said that for many years Tanzania, which is the bedrock of Kiswahili, has been lagging behind in putting the country on the international map by promoting the language, leaving the opportunity to other countries, which are more aggressive.
“Currently the Democratic Republic of Congo is in the process of being admitted in the East African Community as a member state, which means there will be a high demand for Kiswahili teachers, that is why there is a need for identifying experts in the language so that they can be deployed there,” he said.
He said that investing in Kiswahili language does not benefit swahili speakers only, also nvestors, because plans are underway to make sure all products, both local and foreign are labelled in Kiswahili.
He said that since United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO announced 7th of July every as World Kiswahili Day, it is an opportune time for the country to take advantage, considering that Kiswahili is spoken by more 200 million people worldwide.
“Apart from all that, we all know about the determination of the the sixth phase government under President Samia Suluhu Hasssan to promote and develop Kiswahili within and outside our borders, that is why the ruling party CCM 2020/2025 election Manifesto highlights the importance of making sure the language is widely spoken,” he pointed out.
Supported by ALAF Limited of Tanzania and Mabati Rolling Mills of Kenya (subsidiaries of the SAFAL Group) and The Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs at Cornell University and the Africana Studies Center at Cornell University, USA, the PM was told that the awards aim at grooming Kiswahili language as one of the most spoken dialects in Africa by shinning a spotlight and opening up opportunities for unpublished kiswahili literature.
Equally, the PM used the opportunity to direct the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation to work together in building the capacity of local Kiswahili experts to translate foreign languages.
Mr Majaliwa commended the collaboration between the organising stakeholders and the creativity around ensuring continuous success of the awards, and appreciated the SAFAL Group for its unwavering support to the awards, since their inception and encouraged the group through its subsidiaries (ALAF Limited in Tanzania and Mabati Rolling Mills in Kenya) to continue with the spirit.
SAFAL group CEO Anders Lindgren, reiterated the groups commitment towards contributing to the development of the communities it operates in stressing: “At the SAFAL Group, we care deeply about the people and communities we operate in and we live by our values of being a responsible and involved corporate citizen.”
During the awarding ceremony, Halfani Sudy emerged the winner in the fiction category, while Mohammed Omary won in the poetry category.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Halfani Sudy, who won in the fiction category, thanked the organizers and sponsors of the initiative and vowed to champion the growth and spread of Kiswahili especially in African countries beyond East Africa.
“We appreciate this platform as it exposes key stakeholders and access academic and economic opportunities in addition to the cash prize.”
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