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Famed author, publisher and businessman, Nyambari Nyangwine, receives an award from Zanzibar Second Vice-President Hemedi Suleiman Abdalla as recognition to his efforts in Kiswahili development at a ceremony held on Monday in Zanzibar.

By Lake Zone Watch Writer

The star of renowned author, publisher and businessman, Nyambari Chacha Mariba Nyangwine, was on Monday this week shone brightly after he received an award in recognition of his concerted efforts in Kiswahili development.

He received the award from the Zanzibar Second Vice-President Hemedi Suleiman Abdalla who was guest of honour at a ceremony in which some other Kiswahili stakeholders and institutions were also honoured for progressively working to develop the widely spoken language in Africa.

The ceremony was part of marking the 4th International Kiswahili Day held in Zanzibar from July 2 to 5, this year.

The two ministries of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports for Mainland Tanzania and Information, Youth, Culture and Sports for the Government of Zanzibar, respectively, through the twin national Kiswahili councils BAKITA and BAKIZA organized the four-day event.

Nyangwine, a former Member of Parliament for Tarime between 2010 and 2015, is also the chairman of the Nyambari Nyangwine Group of Companies and staunch mobiliser of development issues in his home district of Tarime and Mara region as a whole.

The Nyangwine award ceremony followed other activities in which Kiswahili stakeholders and institutions were also given awards for their contribution to the language development. 

A BAKITA statement issued on July 2, 2025 to recongnise Nyangwines Kiswahili development contribution said in part:"The preparatory committee sees that you deserve to receive this award for publishing many books in Kiswahili language."

"In recognition of your patriotic contribution for pushing the Kiswahili agenda within and outside the country, youre invited to come and receive the award for publishing Kiswahili works."

Commemoration of the International Kiswahili Day on July 7 every year follows a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declaration announced in November 2021 at a meeting of member countries.

Kiswahili is the most spoken language in Africa, with over 140 million speakers. This is a Bantu language believed to have originated from other languages, specifically languages not native to Africa such as Arabic and Portuguese, following historical East African interactions with speakers of those languages.

It is the lingua franca of the African Great Lakes region and other parts of eastern and south-eastern Africa, including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).