Uganda adopts Swahili as official language

Uganda's cabinet has approved the adoption of Swahili as an official language, according to a statement.

The cabinet also recommended that the teaching of Swahili in primary and secondary should be made compulsory.

Swahili, which originated in East Africa, is one of the world's 10 most widely spoken languages with about 200 million speakers.

The language and its dialects is spoken from parts of Somalia down to Mozambique and across the Democratic Republic of Congo.