Message from COD, Kiswahili and Other African Languages

Kiswahili language is playing an ever increasing role not only in the Great Lakes region, but in other parts of the world as well. Its role in the information and communication industry, as well as other domains of the economy is steadily on the rise. In Kenya, The Constitution of Kenya (Article 6 (1), (2) and (3); Article 68 (1) and (2) formally designates Kiswahili as both a national and official language and spells out the critical role played by this and other African languages as vehicles of transmitting education and culture.

The constitution further proclaims that State shall promote and protect the diversity of language of the people of Kenya. To this end, Kibabii University College has established the Department of Kiswahili and Other African Languages so that it can be an active player in fostering the study of Kiswahili and other African languages, linguistics, literatures, pedagogy and cultures in an environment which integrates research and teaching; and foster an integrated literary, linguistic and pedagogic study of Kiswahili and Other African Languages.

The department currently services the faculty of education by providing courses to undergraduate students aspiring to become teachers of Kiswahili. Likewise, the department offers a Master of Education (Kiswahili Education) to post graduate students. The department is in the mean time preparing a Master of Arts (MA) in Kiswahili programme, which is awaiting approval of the Academic Board. In the near future, new programmes will be launched. These include; PhD (Kiswahili Linguistics) and PhD (Fasihi).

These programmes are aimed at producing highly trained and skilled manpower who will not only engage in research and dissemination of results, but who will also play an active role in the training of other scholars in areas of their specialization. In addition, the department is developing a Bachelor of Arts, BA in Kiswahili programme, which will provide an opportunity to undergraduate students who wish to study Kiswahili in greater depth. Moreover, the department is currently re-organizing its courses in order to introduce market driven courses such as editorial methods, translation, theatre and drama among others.

The location of Kibabii University is very strategic. In this regard, we envisage collaborative research and linkages with our neighboring countries.