Prospects of Kiswahili as a Regional Language in a Socioculturally Heterogeneous East Africa

Abstract

The three East African states, namely Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, are currently working towards a regional confederation. This task poses challenges of implementation. The main stakeholders have called for unity of purpose, philosophy, and strategy in order to achieve mutual compatibility of values among these politically independent and socioculturally diverse entities. This paper examines the language situation in the three states and the central role that language plays in the social, economic, cultural and educational aspects of political integration. We conclude that the search for a regional identity needs to be driven by practical policies that promote rather than inhibit interaction of East Africans. We also demonstrate that the existing ethnolinguistc and national identities can be harnessed to complement the unitary efforts towards regionalization.