Rebecca Kadaga Alitwala, the 1st Deputy Prime Minister and also Minister of East African Community Affairs on Thursday told journalists in Kampala that the introduction of French as an official language brings various benefits to the country that will include job opportunities among others.
Rebecca Kadaga Alitwala, the 1st Deputy Prime Minister and also Minister of East African Community Affairs addressing journalists at the Kingdom Building in Kampala
The Council
of Ministers has agreed to consider French as a third official language to be
used within the East African Community after English and Kiswahili.
The decision
was made under Article 137 of the proposed Amendment of the official languages
of the Community during the 41st meeting of the Ordinary Council of Ministers
held in Arusha, Tanzania at the East African Community Headquarters from 22-29
November 2021.
The Council
is the policy-making organ of the Community charged with, among others the
responsibility of keeping under constant review the progress of implementation
of the programs and activities of the Community.
Rebecca
Kadaga Alitwala, the 1st Deputy Prime Minister and also Minister of
East African Community Affairs on Thursday told journalists in Kampala that the
introduction of French as an official language brings various benefits to the
country that will include job opportunities among others.
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Kadaga
disclosed the Government through the Ministry of Education and Sports will have
to invest in the teaching of French by designing appropriate policy frameworks
to enable it to be taught and examined in school as a compulsory subject.
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During the same meeting, the Council also endorsed the application
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to join the East African Community.
Currently, French is widely spoken in DRC and neighboring Rwanda and Burundi.
However, the English language shall remain the official language of the Court
under Article 46 while Kiswahili shall be developed as the lingua franca of the
Community. Currently, the community is composed of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan.
During the meeting, the Council also considered the draft EAC Standardization
Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (SACA) Bill, 2021, principles for EAC
securities, market legal, and regulatory framework.
They also adopted the development of regional laws on the various aspects of
the EAC common market protocol, regional industry value addition (RIVA) in
selected value chains such as fruits and vegetables; leather, and herbal
medicine.
The Council of Ministers further adopted the protocol on tourism and wildlife
management, the EAC regional trade policy among others.
Ochola's journalism career begun from Radio King 90.2 FM in Gulu around 2009, and Radio Rupiny 95.7 Fm under Vision Group in 2012. He also reported for Mighty Fire 91.5 Fm, Kitgum in 2015 before joining Wizarts Foundation in 2017.
He has been reporting for Uganda Radio Network (URN) since 2017 before being posted as Bureau Chief Kitgum, and latr Gulu between 2018 - 2021. Currently, he reports from Parliament.
