'Swahili is a gold coin': Museveni says East Africa not like EU which doesn’t have a common language

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday challenged East Africans to utilise the shared Swahili language for economic prosperity.

Addressing the press at State House Nairobi after a meeting with his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, the long-serving Ugandan leader said East Africa is not like the European Union which does not have a common language.

“We have one dialect that is not contested. With Kisii, Giriama… you may have some issues with that. But we have one that is not; Swahili. We are not like the European Union who don’t (sic) have language,” said Museveni.

“When they meet in Brussels they can’t talk. Somebody is talking German; another one is talking through earphones… by the time you’re finished, you’re almost deaf.”

Museveni described Swahili as “infrastructure created by God”, which should be used to the benefit of East Africa member states by “uniting economically and politically.”

“Here, Swahili is not contested. It can be used in the whole of East Africa, eastern Congo, northern Mozambique, and northern Zambia. It is a gold coin we have in our hands,” the Ugandan leader said.

He envisioned EAC morphing into one government beyond just economic integration, saying, “Our treaty says ultimately, we should create a political federation so, therefore, for the EAC, our target is one government for East Africa.”

“With strategic security, you cannot handle it by merely being in an economic community. The only way to do it is through political integration,” added Museveni.

Swahili has over 200 million speakers and is one of three official languages of the EAC member states; Kenya, DR Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.