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Mashudu Netsianda

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has arrived in Victoria Falls where he will officially open the inaugural National Languages conference .

The President will be the guest of honour at the three-day conference, which started on Tuesday in the resort city.

He arrived shortly before 9am aboard an Air Zimbabwe plane. He was welcomed by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Youth, Sport and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry among other senior Government officials.

Running under the theme; “Redefining the role of Zimbabwean languages for national development towards Vision 2030 and beyond”, the conference seeks to define in detail the role and place of all officially-recognised and not yet recognised indigenous languages in national development as well as the promotion, preservation and conservation of cultural heritage.

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Khoisan, Nambya, Ndau, IsiNdebele, Shangani, Xhosa, Sign Language, Sesotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and ChiShona adopted in the 2013 Constitution.

The conference has brought together experts in the areas of African languages and linguistics, and leading thought leaders in the nation to craft a roadmap towards the finalisation of the Language Bill which will pave the way for the formulation of a clear-cut language policy for the country’s linguistic landscape.

-@mashnets