VOA常速英语2007年-NGO Alleges Widespread Bribery in Kenyan Electi

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
03 December 2007

A coalition¹ of Kenyan non-governmental organizations has released a new report charging parties and candidates with widespread bribing² of voters before presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 27. Derek Kilner has more for VOA from Nairobi.

The report, based on a survey conducted in 71 legislative³ constituencies, found that nearly 80 percent of voters were offered cash or other gifts before party nominations⁵ for seats in parliament in mid-November.

The report, released by the Coalition for Accountable Political Financing, a group of 36 Kenyan organizations, says candidates spent more than $14 million on bribes⁶ by the time the nominations process was complete. The report also notes less than one third of this money was distributed to individual voters, with the majority going to middlemen employed by the candidates.

Report author Charles Otieno, who heads the organization Polity and Policy, explains the rational behind the bribery⁷.

"Look at it this way, you have a constituency that is very poor, people living on less than one dollar a day, and someone turns up with one dollar every day to offer you to vote for them on the election day," he said. "So what politicians do is they come up with a strategy of actually getting voters in different social groups and these people actually give the money every day to secure their vote on election day"

Otieno says the money used for bribes comes from a variety of sources

"A lot of it is stolen from the state, from the government. A lot of it is donated from private companies that actually want to secure certain contracts with the government in the future. A lot of it is from their savings," he added. "Some of it is also from what has been donated by the people. But we believe much of it is corrupt⁸ because most politicians cannot account for the millions that they are spending in the campaign."

The NGO coalition, whose members include the League of Kenya Women Voters and the Kenya branch of Transparency International, was partly funded by contributions from Britain and the United States. The report focused on the campaigns for party nominations for parliamentary seats.

Many of Kenya's parties have strong regional and ethnic⁹ bases. And in districts dominated by a single party, securing that party's nomination⁴ is seen as a virtual ticket to parliament. The nomination process also set off a series of violent protests in mid-November.

Otieno says the government is making progress on reforming campaign finance, but there is still a long way to go.

"It is a travesty¹⁰. We do not have a democracy. What we have here is a group of rich people buying their seat in parliament," he said.

Kenya is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on December 27. President Mwai Kibaki, running on the Party of National Unity¹¹ ticket, is locked in a close contest with challenger Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement.

Most opinion polls show Mr. Odinga leading the president by a slight margin¹², but the gap has narrowed considerably¹³ in recent weeks.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 bribing   

贿赂

参考例句：

• He tried to escape by bribing the guard. 他企图贿赂警卫而逃走。
• Always a new way of bribing unknown and maybe nonexistent forces. 总是用诸如此类的新方法来讨好那不知名的、甚或根本不存在的魔力。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

6 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

7 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

8 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。

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

10 travesty   

n.歪曲，嘲弄，滑稽化

参考例句：

• The trial was a travesty of justice.这次审判嘲弄了法律的公正性。
• The play was,in their view,a travesty of the truth.这个剧本在他们看来是对事实的歪曲。

11 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

12 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

13 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。