DAR ES SALAAM, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports (SCESTCS) has adopted a roadmap for the implementation of Kiswahili and French as official languages of the bloc.
A statement issued late Tuesday by the EAC's headquarters in Tanzania's northern city of Arusha said the SCESTCS adopted the roadmap at its 17th meeting held Tuesday in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital of Tanzania.
The adoption of the roadmap for the use of Kiswahili and French as official languages of the bloc was part of the implementation of the directive of the 21st summit of the EAC heads of state that adopted Kiswahili and French as official languages of the EAC, read the statement.
Currently, the EAC has been using English as its official language.
The SCESTCS urged the EAC secretariat to expeditiously implement these roadmaps and undertake necessary capacity building and other requirements to facilitate the use of these languages in the official business of the regional bloc, said the statement.
The SCESTCS adopted the UNESCO declaration of July 7 as World Kiswahili Language Day and directed the EAC secretariat to include it in the calendar of activities as an annual EAC event. It also approved the inaugural EAC World Kiswahili Language Day to be celebrated in Zanzibar on July 7, 2022, under the coordination of the East African Kiswahili Commission, said the statement.
EAC member states are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ■