July 4, 1974: President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta declares in Nairobi that Swahili will from now on be Kenya’s national and official language. All Government functions, including Parliamentary proceedings, will be conducted in Swahili, he said. The decision was unanimously adopted by the Kanu Governing Council delegates conference, chaired by the President, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. President Kenyatta also nullified with immediate effect announcement that candidate wishing to contest the local government elections for Nairobi City Council, all municipalities and town councils must be literate in both English and Swahili. Amidst applause from delegates, Mzee Kenyatta emphasized that the strength and ‘stability of any respectable Government is very dependent on a national language of its citizens together.” He added: “The basis of any independent-Government worth its salt is a national language. We are an independent nation, and we can no longer continue coping our former colonial masters. We are lucky that today the majority of Kenyans can understand Swahili,” he said to deafening cheers.