Legislators want organic laws translated into Swahili

LEGISLATORS have proposed that organic laws be translated into Swahili, the most widely spoken language in East African Community. Explaining the proposals, Speaker Donatile Mukabalisa said Article 8 of the revised Constitution provides that a law may add or remove an official language to suit a certain reason. “While working on the law, and in an effort to make it flexible, we realised that it might be in our interest to add a Swahili translation to our organic laws for integration purposes now that we are in the EAC,” she said. Kiswahili will be a subject in the new skills-centred education curricula due for rollout in January. However, according to Blaise Rwigamba, a practicing lawyer, translating the law into Swahili might be a bit tricky if the language is not one of the official languages of the country. “There will be a need to have the language (Swahili) first recognised as one of the official medium of communication in the country’s supreme law before such a drastic change can be effected,” he said. Of late, MPs had made their concerns known about delays in the drafting of legislation due to issues of language that they believe sometimes fail to contextualise realities on the ground. MPs have suggested that they need to liaise with experts in linguistic in order to make the laws they enact easily understandable, a move that, according to lawyers, will help them in supporting their clients. General changes Meanwhile, lawyers have hailed the proposed constitutional amendments that were passed by the Lower Chamber of Parliament, saying the timely changes will make the Constitution more accommodative and compatible with other laws. Other than the proposed changes in the presidential term limit, the other amendments, if passed by referendum, will see members of the Senate, the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice serve a five-year term, renewable only once. The change would come into effect after they serve their current terms that end in 2018. However, according to the proposed amendments, senators who are former heads of state will not be subject to term limits. Cecile Karakure, a lawyer, said the proposed changes are timely and encouraged reform in the way the Supreme Court handled cases, saying that the court is inundated with cases. “There is also a need to reduce the amount of work done by the Supreme Court. We would have to decide which competent institution would handle the authentic interpretation of the supreme law,” Karakure said.

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Legislators want organic laws translated into Swahili