Who drove Kiswahili off the pulpit and why?

There was a time in Kenya’s urban churches when Kiswahili flowed from the pulpit with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel.

At Nairobi’s Pefa Donholm where I worship, the pastoral leadership dedicated the 11am-1pm weekly Sunday service to Kiswahili, honouring it as a national and regional lingua franca. Now that was thoughtful. The Kiswahili service not only extolled the power of this ‘endangered’ language in worship but also empowered us to take part in its preservation.

Over time, however, English has muscled into that space. Like last Sunday, Pastor Herman Mwashigadi stuck to English throughout despite being a fluent and savvy Kiswahili speaker. Language choice often impacts messaging. Refer to the ‘Speech Act Theory’ by John Austin. Even in city settings like ‘Kanairo’ where English is king, Kiswahili retains a unique resonance. I gained a fresh appreciation for its distinctiveness when Tanzanian Pastor Amos Hulilo visited our church in June. While introducing him, Bishop Paul Habwe foretold us that “Kiswahili kitatembea leo’ (Kiswahili will flow today). Indeed, Pastor Hulilo’s diction was something else. “Usitukane mamba kabla uvuke mto (never scorn crocodiles before you cross the stream),” he began, with metaphors that appetised everyone.

Same way, Pastor Betty Habwe’s sermons in English with a touch of Sheng have a distinctive allure. Because of Sheng’s hybrid nature, it’s especially captivating. When she talks of ‘ghetto’ life, we the hustlers immediately relate. In contrast, English sermons are overly formal. Today, this language conundrum is pretty much an issue across churches.

To my point now. Places of worship, because they draw large audiences, can positively shape attitudes towards local languages use. They can uplift Kiswahili as a heritage or neglect it in favour of the Queen’s language. What will we achieve if we gained the world but lost our language? Sounds like Mark 8:36?

Like the heart-warming example by Pefa Donholm, the new crop of clergy and the broader faith community should dedicate specific programmes to Kiswahili sanifu. But they must commit to observing them. Already, Muslims have set a strong precedent with Friday prayers (Jumu’ah) in Kiswahili alongside Arabic.

What next? Catholics, Protestant denominations, Pentecostals, evangelicals and other groups in town should support academia and researchers in promoting Kiswahili. Whoever said ‘Kiswahili kitukuzwe’ got it. Let it be a vessel of culture, heritage and identity. EAC region has 238 million Christians who can foster Kiswahili in every sense just like the early Church did during Bible translation.  

For the record, Unesco declared July 7 Kiswahili Day as part of global efforts to promote multilingualism.

Despite Article 119 of the EAC mandating States to promote indigenous languages, we disparage Tanzanians for their allegiance to Kiswahili. Many Kenyans equate the national language with inferiority. But who said speaking English means you’re smart? Moreover, the ‘English-speaking nation’ title has done little, if anything, to solve problems like negative ethnicity and political polarisation. Instead, we’ve become known regionally as ‘kizungu mingi’ people – a polite way of calling us brats. Pity us!

Three sticky issues should worry us. First is the growing disengagement and poor performance among Gen-Zs. In last year’s KCSE, Kiswahili recorded a decline. This points to shifting priorities or gaps in how the subject is taught and learnt.

Second is Kiswahili’s limited presence on digital platforms, especially in scientific, technical and academic fields compared to English. Now is the time to invest in Kiswahili language technology in areas like spell-checkers, translation tools, educational apps and many more.

Third, surveys show while young Kenyans can read Kiswahili text, many are struggling with comprehension and grammar. What must we do, as a nation, to ensure proficiency in the national language?

Broad-based advocacy will help. We need more like Ken Waliula, who took Kiswahili to another level through beautiful writings. Prof Kimani Njogu founded Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa. Rocha Chimera and others have raised the language’s acceptance. Over to our churches.

The writer is a communications practitioner. X:@markoloo