肯尼亚请求外援受到议会打击

 

 

Kenya Suffers Blow to Foreign Aid Request

Katy Salmon¹

Nairobi

11 Aug 2001 13:00 UTC

 

Kenya's chances of receiving foreign aid suffered a major 1)upset this week on Wednesday when rebel 2)parliamentarians blocked a key anti-graft bill. A prominent lawyer is accusing the government of deliberately² 3)sabotaging the bill to protect corrupt³ officials.

Kenya's parliament next Tuesday will get its third and final chance this year to pass a bill to re-establish the Kenya Anti-Corruption⁴ Authority, or KACA. Donors⁵ insist the anti-corruption 4)watchdog be set up before they resume lending to Kenya. Aid was suspended last year after KACA was declared unconstitutional by Kenya's Court of Appeals and closed down.

Economists⁶ warn the economy could go into free-fall without 5)donor aid. Kenya is already experiencing its worse 6)recession since independence in 1963. But the bill's 7)opponents say these fears do not matter.

Gibson Kamau Kuria, former chairman of the Law Society of Kenya, says Kenya's economy will not recover until it starts cracking down on corruption in government. "I don't believe that it is important for a bad bill to be passed because it will be as good as no bill," he said. "Both sides of the House want an 8)effective KACA. What they've been given is a 9)lame⁷ duck. They would be making the country a laughing stock if they pass that. It's true that the country needs money but it only needs money so that it can perform well. And it can't perform without an effective anti-corruption authority and none is going to come out of this bill."

Parliamentarians argue that the bill is 10)flawed because KACA will not be independent. Kenya's Attorney General, the country's most senior lawyer, will have the final say over 11)prosecutions. Mr. Kuria says it is politically impossible for the Attorney General to prosecute⁸ his cabinet 12)colleagues because he does business with them everyday.

When the bill was first rejected by parliament earlier this year, the Law Society of Kenya sent its own draft to the government, giving KACA the power to prosecute independently from the Attorney General. But the government has still not eliminated a constitutional conflict between KACA and the Attorney General in the second version.

Mr. Kuria says the government is 13)deliberately producing flawed bills to fool the donors into releasing aid. "It is not the technical 14)expertise which is lacking because the Law Society has drafted a bill that can work. What is lacking is political will. To put it bluntly, the government, which the AG [Attorney General] serves does not want an effective anti-corruption authority. I'm telling you that as the chairman I've forwarded a bill that works. So it is deliberate. It is a political choice," says Mr. Kuria. "I think that the government has over the years 15)underrated the intelligence of the donors and the World Bank and IMF [International Monetary⁹ Fund]. And so they thought that if they have this bill, an ineffective authority will be there and they will be able to 16)wash their hands and say well, we have an authority, it's not working, it's not our problem. And they will discover that after money has been released."

If the bill is passed on Tuesday, Parliament will then be asked to vote for another donor-initiated anti-corruption bill. The Economic Crimes Bill is also facing 17)stiff opposition¹⁰ because it seeks to give 18)amnesty to all economic crimes prior to 1997.

 

 

(1)      upset [5Qpset]vt.颠覆, 推翻vi.翻倒, 倾覆n.翻倒, 混乱

(2)      parliamentarian[5pB:lEmen5teErIEn]n.议事法规专家, 国会议员adj.议会的

(3)      sabotage[5sAbEtB:V]n.怠工, 破坏vi.从事破坏活动vt.妨害, 破坏

(4)      watchdog[5wRtFdR^]n. 监察人(员), 监督人(员)adj.充当监察人员的

(5)      donor[5dEJnE(r)]n.捐赠人

(6)      recession[rI5seF(E)n]n.撤回, 工商业之衰退, 不景气

(7)      opponent[E5pEJnEnt]adj.对立的, 对抗的n.对手, 反对者

(8)      effective[I5fektIv]adj.有效的, 被实施的, 给人深刻印象, 有生力量

(9)      lame duck n.无用的人, 投机者

(10)      flaw[flC:]n.缺点, 裂纹vt.使有缺陷, 使无效vi.生裂缝, 变的有缺陷

(11)      prosecution[prRsI5kju:F(E)n]n.进行, 经营, 检举, 起诉

(12)      colleague[5kRli:^]n.同事, 同僚

(13)      deliberately[dI5lIbErEtlI]adv.故意地

(14)      expertise[eksp:5ti:z]n.专家的意见, 专门技术

(15)      underrate[QndE5reIt]vt.低估, 看轻

(16)      wash one's hands v.洗手

(17)      stiff[stIf]adj.硬的, 僵直的, 拘谨的, 艰难的, 费劲的

(18)      amnesty[5AmnIstI]n.(尤指对反政府政治犯的)特赦

 

 

1 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

2 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

3 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

8 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

9 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。