A new Kinyarwanda–Kiswahili dictionary has been launched to facilitate communication between Rwandans visiting East African countries where Kiswahili is the major language and to ease communication for Kiswahili speakers visiting Rwanda.

The dictionary was unveiled on Wednesday at the University of Rwanda’s College of Education.

The author, Prof Cyprien Niyomugabo, said the dictionary will also reinforce the good relations between East African countries.

"It was my dream to publish something that can help in that context. I conceived the idea in 2005. At that time, linguistic books written in Kinyarwanda-Kiswahili were few. So, I got that idea to fill that gap,” he said.

Prof George Njoroge, the principal of the College of Education, lauded the initiative, adding that Niyomugabo had also written a Kinyarwanda-Chinese-English dictionary.

Niyomugabo was assisted by the University of Dar es Salaam’s Kiswahili Academy to compile the dictionary.

Dr Ernesta Mosha from the University of Dar es Salaam’s Kiswahili Academy, and the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Education, Dr Celestin Ntivuguruzwa, attended the launch.

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