Ugandan presidential candidate Mubarak Munyagwa has proposed banning Swahili, the country’s official language, in favour of French, saying French offers broader regional coverage.
“We shall ban Swahili as our national language. We need French instead,” said Munyagwa, leader of the Common Man’s Party, which will be contesting the 2026 general elections.
“French has a wider coverage. Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, Gabon and the Central African Republic speak French, we don’t need Swahili. We need English and French.”
His proposal comes as Uganda prepares for the presidental and parliamentary elections in January. Munyagwa has focused his campaign on equity and opportunity for “the common man”.
The former legislator and mayor said he would push for reforms to Uganda’s language policy, especially in the education system, to phase out Swahili and promote French, with English. Uganda recently made Swahili compulsory in schools after adopting it as an official language of the East African Community, a move aimed at boosting regional integration.
His proposal has sparked backlash from critics who argue it disrespects Swahili’s cultural and historical significance in East Africa, where it is widely spoken.
Last week he was quoted as saying: “French is a language of opportunity and if we want to remain relevant on the global stage we must start preparing our citizens for the future, learning a language that can connect us with the rest of the world.”
According to the BBC, it’s projected that by 2050 nearly 85% of the world’s French speakers will live in Africa.
TimesLIVE
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