Online ReporterOliver Kazunga
Senior Reporter
Zimbabweans must take pride in their mother language to uphold cultural identity, unity, peace and development in the country.
Under the country’s Constitution, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages that include Sign Language, Xhosa, Tswana, IsiNdebele, Tonga, Venda, Kalanga, Chewa, Chibarwe, Venda, Chewa, Ndau and English.
And as the Government seeks to achieve an upper middle-income society by 2030, authorities have recognised the diversity in local language as a vital cog in promoting cultural identity, unity, peace and development among communities.
To achieve the aspirations of the national vision, President Mnangagwa has declared that no-one and no place should be left behind and thus upholding and appreciation of the diverse culture and linguistic pluralism plays a significant role in preserving cultural heritage, bringing peace, unity and development in communities.
In her address at the Languages Day Expo in Harare, Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Emily Jesaya said: “We are concerned when we hear instances where parents say their children cannot speak or articulate vernacular languages.
“This has led to the erosion of our cultural identity and heritage while also undermining the national vision of fostering unity, peace and development in the country.
“In line with the National Vision of achieving an upper middle-income society by 2030, we are working through the promotion of diverse local languages to ensure our cultural identity and heritage are not eroded.”
The Languages Day Expo held at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe is the first of its kind under the Zimpapers calendar of events.
The event was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture and the National Gallery to commemorate the International Mother Language Day, which UNESCO declared in 1999 to recognise the importance of mother languages in preserving cultural heritage and fostering cultural diversity.
Deputy Minister Jesaya said the Government through her Ministry is working vigorously to uphold all the 16 official languages in Zimbabwe.
“The Government through my Ministry and the National Languages Advisory Committee are collaborating in crafting the National Language Policy as part of efforts to promote local languages and African languages,” she said.
The committee was established with the intent of re-defining the role of Zimbabwe’s Indigenous Languages in achieving an upper middle-income society by 2030.
The Government is also working with teh committee and in line with African Academy of Languages to develop and promote African languages.
Earlier in her address National Languages Advisory Committee chairperson Professor Ruby Magosvongwe, who is also the Zimbabwe Media Commission chairperson, encouraged indigenous Zimbabweans including youths to take pride in their mother languages.
“Quoting Steve Biko, she said: ‘You are either alive and proud or you are dead, and when you are dead you can’t care anyway,’ so amongst yourselves as school children, how many of you care? If you are dead, you can’t care anyway.
“Do you care about yourself, your heritage and language? That’s how critical language is . . . it defines who you are and it defines relationships and how important you are when you relate with each other in the environment, workplace and at school.
“Language instils the philosophy of Ubuntu/Hunhu as Africans and thus our local languages are the backbone of our cultural identity and cultural heritage,” she said, adding that Ubuntuism is an integral component of the Zimbabwean or African culture.
This, she said, is echoed in Zimbabwe’s diverse native languages.
The Languages Day Expo attracted Government officials, the diplomatic community, language experts, artistes, the general public, schools in Harare, and stakeholders in the education sector such as study-abroad agencies, among others.
In his speech, French Embassy deputy head of mission Benjamin Durrenberger said his country has established an association called Alliance Francaise across different parts of the world including Zimbabwe to foster French language and mutual knowledge between that European country and the rest of the globe.
