George Mkuchika, the Tanzanian Minister for Sports and Culture
Two days ago, the Tanzanian Minister for Sports and Culture, George Mkuchika, declared in the Parliament that public and private companies must conduct any official communication in Kiswahili. His argument was that 70 percent of the billboards in Dar es Salaam are in English while only a small number of people in the city understand the colonist’s language. This is a problematic decision at various levels.
Before I explain why I believe this is a very poor decision, I will start by noting that Tanzania is the only African country where Kiswahili is in fact the main official language of the country (in oppose to Kenya, for example, where English is the official language but Kiswahili is spoken by most people). Julius Nyerere, the first president of the country put great emphasis on Africans speaking their African language and encouraged the use of Kiswahili in schools, companies, and in the public sector. That being said, the use of English was also allowed and, in some cases, encouraged.
When the Minister for Sports and Culture expresses his concerns regarding the aggressive spread of English in ads, on billboards and, indeed, on the streets, he has all the reasons to do so. After all, as a frequent, temporary resident of Dar es Salaam (I spend, on average, three months of the year in Dar) I can definitely vouch for the fact that a large number of billboards are only in English. In addition, many of the people I interact with speak either only Swahili or have a limited command of the English language.
That being said, even by talking about the use of English vs Swahili in these terms, Mr. George Mkuchika proves he doesn’t really have a working understanding of how things really work in the advertising industry in Dar es Salaam. In addition, it seems to me, he simply looks at the figures and not the actual content of the ads. Lastly, I don’t really think he has a sense of the demographic structure of Dar es Salaam either. Now to explain myself.
It is true most ads in Dar es Salaam are in English. But it’s true that some specific ads are exclusively in Swahili. The latter are the ones that are actually designed for the masses, i.e. for average Tanzanian people: ads for various phone networks, TV programs, sales and banks. Others ads in the city are both in English and in Swahili – cigarette ads, electronics, major firms etc. Why? Because the companies advertising in Dar are clearly aware of who their audience is.
Dar es Salaam is the city with the largest expat population in the city – foreigners working for various UN agencies and other international organizations – and companies know exactly that they have money to spend. In contrast, when it comes to ads for cell-phones or other goods that are likely to be bought primarily by local residents, the ads are generally in Swahili. What this suggests is in fact that companies advertising in Dar es Salaam have done their work and know precisely who they are targeting. In addition, I suspect that a significant amount of people residing in Dar es Salaam actually speak some English. Since most ads only use rather common words in English, even those who only have only limited English language skills will be able to decipher those ads.
Another thing that surprised me was the fact that the minister actually said that most residents do not speak English. Whereas that might be the case, I have yet to see any studies confirming this hypothesis. As a representative of the government, Mr. George Mkuchika should in fact make use of official data to back up his claims rather than simply go on hunches.
The minister and I are actually on the same pace when it comes to the importance of Kiswahili for Tanzania. Despite the fact that my Swahili skills are still limited, I believe the government should actually support the use of the language. But they shouldn’t do it by banning companies from advertising in English – after all, if the ads did not produce some results, these firms would be out-of-business or severely crippled.
The government should work closely with local communities, encourage the use of Kiswahili in schools and other public forums and should absolutely NOT try to control and regulate the strategies employed by local companies. Why? These companies are looking after their best interests. After all, if they think they can reach out to a larger audience by using English as the language by which their messages is conveyed no government should ban that. In addition, local companies hire local people and if switching to Swahili will make them lose money, then the local residents themselves will suffer. Lastly, we live in an interconnected world. The use of English on billboards in the Dar is therefore a form of adaptation on behalf of the local companies and should not be banned or tempered with.
If Mr. George Mkuchika thinks Kiswahili is threatened by the use of English, then he has every right to try to reverse that process. But he shouldn’t do it in a pervasive way that will cost local companies money.
