Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal |71
as the language of record throughout the whole country and then have other official languages as
languages of record together with English in areas where those official languages are spoken. A third
approach could be to have different official languages as languages of record in areas where the
speakers are mainly concentrated. For example, Ndebele can be a language of record in Bulawayo,
Tonga can be a language of record in Binga, Shona can be a language of record in Harare, etc.
Section 6(2) does not also reveal whether or not the drafters aspired to have all 16 official languages
to be developed to be languages of record. If this is so, there could be need for the envisaged Act
of Parliament to provide specific timelines expected to ensure that all 16 official languages become
languages of record. A leaf can be borrowed from s 4(5) of the Law Society of Zimbabwe Model
Constitution that provides that:
...An Act of Parliament must provide that— (a) within ten years from the commencement of
this Constitution, every official language is a language of record, alongside English, where it is
predominantly spoken and has been predominantly spoken for the past one hundred years; and
(b) within twenty-five years from the commencement of this Constitution, all official languages
must be recognised as languages of record alongside English.
Such a provision would give the state sufficient time to progressively develop all the 16 official
languages to be languages of record.
2. Use of Official Languages
Section 6(3) obliges the state and its institutions and agencies to use official languages. The Constitution
does not mention the scope of use of official languages. Should some or all the official languages be
used in education, media, cultural activities, public service and communication with government?
However, despite this omission, s 6(3) does highlight two main considerations that need to be taken
into account when regulating the use of official languages. First, all official languages should be
treated equitably. Secondly, the state should take into account the language preferences of people
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