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KNOW YOUR CONSTITUTION
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION SAYS ABOUT OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF ZIMBABWE
Section 6 lists sixteen (16) languages that are officially recognised in Zimbabwe.

These are: Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.

However, apart from these 16 languages, a law can be put in place to prescribe any other language as officially recognised, but as the Constitution stands now these are the officially recognised languages in Zimbabwe.

A law may prescribe a language of  record, that is from the list of the officially recognised languages, any proceedings or process can choose a language to use for the record.

The Constitution places an obligation or a responsibility on the State to promote and advance the use of all languages used in Zimbabwe.

The promotion can be done in many ways possible.

The State is also required to create conditions for the development of all languages used in Zimbabwe.

The State and all institutions and agencies of Government at every level, are obliged to ensure that all officially recognised languages are treated equitably.

This means that these languages must be treated the same.

In cases of any Governmental measures or communications, the language preferences of the people affected by these measures or communications, must be taken into account or considered.

According to Section 63, every person (meaning anyone), has the right to use the language of their choice, although in exercising this right, one must not do it in a way that is inconsistent with other rights in Chapter 4 of the Constitution.

Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs

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