Kenyan Sign Language

Kenyan Sign Language is used by the deaf community of Kenya and Somalia, with dialect differences reported between Kisumu in western Kenya, Mombasa in eastern Kenya, and Somalia; its own genetic classification is listed as unknown, though it may show connections to British and American Sign Language along with some signs from French (Belgian) Sign Language. Estimates put its user base at 300,000 to 600,000 deaf people as of 2007 to 2011, over half of Kenya's roughly 600,000 deaf population. It carries no legal status of its own, though deaf associations have pushed for its recognition and it is reported to have gained recognition as a national language alongside English and Kiswahili; even so it is not generally used in the classrooms of Kenya's 35 residential boarding schools for deaf students despite being those students' primary language, and qualified interpreters remain rare.