Saturday, September 4, 2010

Kiswahili no longer a laughing matter for MPs

By Juma Kwayera

Members of Parliament who took their oaths in Kiswahili risk being tagged strangers in the House, as the version of the subject of their solemn affirmation does not necessarily mean the same institution intended in the English version.

A week after the administration of the oath, there are questions about whether the exercise should be repeated to give House business some measure of credibility.

By saying "Mimi…nikiwa nimechaguliwa mwanachama wa bunge [la kitaifa la] Kenya, naapa…" nearly half of the MPs, keen to demonstrate their patriotism, may have reduced Parliament to something akin to a club, an association, party or any other organisation, but not a national institution.

Kiswahili experts now say the direct translation of the oath from English took the intended meaning out of the solemn vow, once again bringing into question how casually the documents and instruments of the republic are authored.

Legal experts on the other hand warn of the possibility of the oath being referred to the court, seeking to declare void any activities undertaken by the MPs who took their oath in Kiswahili.

The chairman of the Kiswahili Department at the University of Nairobi, Kithaka wa Mberia, says the casual manner the translation was done reflects badly on the credibility of the National Assembly, especially after the language was given official status in the new Constitution.

Prof Mberia says the oath should have read "Mimi…nikiwa nimechaguliwa mbunge wa taifa…" Or "Mimi…nikiwa nimechaguliwa mbunge wa taifa la Kenya…" to capture the English equivalent.

In English, the oath says, "I … having been elected a member of the National Assembly do swear…"

The attempt to draw a line between the Senate (upper house) and the National Assembly (lower house) in the Kiswahili version of new Constitution, which is fraught with ambiguities that emanate from direct translations, alter the intended meaning.

Not sure whether correct

Harun Ndubi, an advocate of the High Court, says the oaths the MPs took in Kiswahili are defective. "It is obvious they did not take the oath as contemplated in the new Constitution. It would be interesting to know the Speaker’s opinion because there is a definite contest between the English and Kiswahili versions of the new Constitution. It behoves those who were sworn-in in Kiswahili to take the oath afresh lest they might not be loyal to Parliament."

In 2008, US President Barack Obama was forced to retake the oath of office after Chief Justice John Roberts accidentally switched the word order when he administered the oath, saying, "I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully," instead of, "I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States." The repeat was precautionary lest it leads to legal and constitutional challenges.

Contacted, Njoki Ndung’u, a member of the Committee of Experts that harmonised constitutional drafts, said she was not sure whether Kiswahili version of the oath was correct. Ms Ndung’u says the State Law Office, which handles the drafting of laws, should have dealt with the ambiguities.

"When it came to rendering the Constitution in Kiswahili, I must confess members of the committee were not quite proficient and the director (Ekuru Aukot) outsourced a translator," she said.

But Dr Aukot was not available to shade light on the inconsistency in meaning particularly on the question of whether there should be a repeat oath when Parliament resumes.

Mberia says, "Translation is a big problem particularly where Government services are concerned. The fact that one is good at two languages does not mean he can translate.

"We need to give Kiswahili effectiveness if it is to serve us as an official language. Or else we risk losing the market of Kiswahili publication to other countries in the East African Community that adopted it as their lingua franca."

While the new Constitution is clear on what to do when there is contest of meaning between Kiswahili and English, says Ndubi, it is not clear if the oath should be repeated in English to remove the inherent ambiguity.

"When there is contest between the actual and the intended meanings, the English version prevails. It is not clear though if the oath administered in Kiswahili should retaken in English," he says.

The Constitution says, "In case of a conflict between different language versions of an Act of Parliament, the version signed by the President shall prevail." President Kibaki appended his signature to the English version.

Language casualness

The ambiguity in the Kiswahili version of the new Constitution is likely to escalate fears the language spoken by an about 300 million people worldwide is under serious attack by foreign languages.

Such is the casualness with which the language is used that when former Makadara MP Dick Wathika election was nullified, an FM radio presenter repeatedly talked of ‘habari za kuvunjika’ in reference to breaking news.

With English enjoying pre-eminence at international level, Kiswahili is still viewed as the language of the riff-raff in Kenya. The proliferation of FM radio stations and telecommunication operators has further undermined the language with each tussling on the use of sheng — an unstructured hodgepodge of overly adulterated English, Kiswahili, and vernacular.

A number of MPs interviewed pleaded ignorance to the actual meaning of the oath as it is in Kiswahili.

About taking a fresh oath, Nominated MP Musikari Kombo says, "It’s not necessary. As for the meaning of the oath in Kiswahili, let scholars determine it."

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