KAMPALA – The minister in charge of general duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere has advised government to do a teacher exchange program with neighbouring Tanzania.

Bring in Tanzanians to teach Ugandans Kiswahili, and send Ugandans there to teach the natives English, he suggests.

If this is done, the minister sees more Ugandans learning Kiswahili and hence breaking the kind of communication barriers that may come in the way of Ugandans fully benefiting from regional integration.

“Kiswahili is a language of communication in the integration process and it is urgent that every East African learns it,” Kabwegyere said at a stakeholders’ conference on the end of the Ministry of East African Community Affairs (MEACA) capacity-building project this week.

“Because to be competitive and gain greater good in the process, Ugandans need to learn the language urgently.”

He pointed out that Uganda is the only country among other East African Countries with the smallest percentage of people that can speak Kiswahili fluently.

“The language is very relevant and we need to learn it urgently in order to break communication barriers with other East African countries. But we are slow because ignorance is holding many Ugandans back.”

“But the faster we learn it, the more we shall enjoy the benefits of the integration.”

Although taught in many schools in Uganda, many locals are skeptical about adopting Kiswahili, with several associating the language with the army, police and crime-related activity.

“It’s a language thieves use to rob people. I can’t invest my time into learning Kiswahili,” one resident of a Kampala suburb said when asked how willing he was to pick up the language.

Another was as cynical. “Leave it to the security operatives . . . and for those interested in learning it.”

Public opinion remains divided – others feel Ugandans ought to catch up with the rest of East Africa as far as communicating using Kiswahili is concerned.

Minister Kabwegyere maintains that government should hire teachers from Tanzania for the lingual instruction.

He said Kiswahili should be taught in every school, universities, and teachers’ training institutes so that even future generations grow up knowing the language.

The conference at which he made these remarks was organized by the Ministry of East African Affairs-Uganda held at Hotel Protea in Kampala.

The MEACA’S capacity building project which commenced in August 2011 and comes to an end later in June was funded by Trademark East Africa.

It is aimed at addressing the various challenges MEACA is encountering at macro and institutional level.

Edith Nsajja Mwanje, the MEACA permanent secretary, said the project has helped them improve coordination with different ministries such as tourism and agriculture as well as the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).

They have been able to reach out and sensitize Ugandans about the integration process, and also led to the approval of the National Policy on EAC integration, among other benefits.

Source: New Vision

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