Luganda Language Services

Ganda, or Luganda, is the major language of Uganda, spoken by over ten million Ganda and other people mainly in Southern Uganda, including the capital Kampala. It belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Typologically, it is a highly agglutinating language with subject-verb-object word order and nominative-accusative morphosyntactic alignment. With about six million first-language-speakers in the Buganda region and about four million others with a working knowledge, it is the most widely spoken Ugandan language, and as second language it follows English and precedes Swahili. The language is used in some primary schools in Buganda as pupils begin to learn English, the primary official language of Uganda. Until the 1960s, Ganda was also the official language of instruction in primary schools in Eastern Uganda. Written Ganda/Luganda > Ganda was first written during the second half of the 19th century. The first Ganda grammar was published in 1882, and was soon followed by other publications, many of which were written by missionaries. A number of different Ganda spelling systems were developed. A standard orthography of Ganda (Empandiika y’Oluganda Entongol) was introduced in 1947 at an All-Baganda Conference. The Luganda Society > The Luganda Society is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the teaching and promotion of the Luganda language. The Luganda Society was established in 1950 through the efforts of Michael B. Nsimbi, known as “The Father of Ganda literature.” Observing the detrimental effects of colonialism on Uganda society and culture, and the neglect and loss of local customs, language and culture, Nsimbi joined with other likeminded nationals to form the society, with the key goals of preserving, popularising and promoting the use of Luganda to both Baganda and non-Baganda. The Luganda Society became a catalyst for inspiring and resourcing a number of writers in the Luganda language, including Solomon Mpalanyi, Phoebe Mukasa, Hugo Ssematimba, C. Kalinda, Dr. Livingstone Walusimbi and Michael B. Nsimbi himself. In 1958 the society began a regular program on Radio Uganda to promote teaching and learning of Luganda and various aspects of Buganda’s culture, and organise on-air Luganda language competitions. In 1959 the society began organising competitions in schools, and in 1965 began offering scholarships to the best students in Luganda, known today as the Dr. Nsimbi Scholarship Scheme. In 1963 the society organized the first Pageant of Uganda, a cultural festival held at Uganda’s National Theater in Kampala, highlighting Uganda’s many cultures. The Society eventually gained government recognition for their cause, and from the 1970s worked together to produce a Luganda language curriculum at Makerere University, the country’s only university at the time, in 1976. Nsimbi and fellow Society member Dr. Livingstone Walusimbi were instrumental in this process, which also saw the creation of a high school curriculum in 1979, and a curriculum for the National Teachers’ Colleges in 1984. The Society also worked to establish the Luganda Teachers Association in 1988, and a curriculum for Teacher Training Colleges in 1994.