News anchor Swaleh Mdoe flew to Brazzaville, Congo, on Sunday to attend a five-day conference for Kiswahili experts and academia organised by Africa Academy of Languages.

Mdoe told Word Is, "I will be off to attend a workshop on capacity building for the Kiswahili and lingala vehicular commissions that began on Monday.

ACALAN is a specialised institution of the African Union, assigned with the task of developing and promoting the use of African languages as a pragmatic means of fostering African integration."

Mdoe, who is a commissioner of the organisation and a Unesco cultural ambassador, added, "The workshop brings together Kiswahili experts and academia who are members of the Kiswahili and Lingala vehicular cross border languages commissions in East and Central Africa, and staff of the executive secretariat of ACALAN from the headquarters in Bamako, Mali."

Among the Kenyan delegation are Prof Kimani Njogu and Prof Naomi Shitemi.