<translate> Kiswahili is Africas most spoken language and in the top 10 most widely spoken languages in the world. With more than 200 million speakers already, interest in the language will likely increase, with the United Nations recently declaring 7 July as the World Kiswahili language day - the first African language to be recognised in this way. Yet even as the language proliferates, its origin story is still greatly debated and the colonial influences apparent in this origin story often overlooked. <swh>Kiswahili ni lugha inayozungumzwa zaidi barani Afrika na kipo miongoni mwa lugha 10 zinazozungumzwa zaidi ulimwenguni. Tayari kikiwa na wazungumzaji zaidi ya milioni 200, mvuto wa lugha hii huenda ukaongezeka, kufuatia Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa la Elimu Sayansi na Utamaduni UNESCO kutangaza hivi karibuni tarehe 7 Julai kuwa siku ya lugha ya Kiswahili Duniani - lugha ya kwanza ya Kiafrika kutambuliwa kwa njia hii. Ingawa lugha inaendelea kukua kwa kasi, hadithi ya asili yake bado inajadiliwa sana na athari za kikoloni zinazojitokeza katika hadithi hii ya asili mara nyingi hazizingatiwi. 