2007年VOA标准英语-Kenya Acknowledges Proliferation of Light Weapo

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
19 July 2007

Kenya's attorney general acknowledged Thursday that his country has seen what he called an astronomical¹ proliferation of light weapons such as assault rifles and pistols. As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, the trend in Kenya underscores the difficulty that African nations have had stemming the flow of small arms, which are used in conflicts across the continent.

Attorney General Amos Wako made the remarks during a workshop in Nairobi aimed at harmonizing laws across East Africa and the Great Lakes region so that governments can better fight the spread of small arms and light weapons.

Those efforts have largely failed in the seven years since twelve nations in the region set up the Regional Center on Small Arms, known as RECSA, in 2000. An estimate from 2004 estimates that some 30 million small arms are now circulating in sub-Saharan Africa.

Wako told the workshop that he will soon make public new proposals to Kenya's Firearms Act aimed at better controlling the weapons. Yet he admitted that much of what the government does now amounts to little more than damage control.

"Kenya which is an oasis² of peace in the region has suffered greatly from an astronomical proliferation of illicit³ small arms and light weapons even with enhanced surveillance along our borders with our neighboring countries which are bedeviled with civil war and strife," Wako said.

Gun control advocates and human rights groups have found it nearly impossible to make a dent⁴ in the global trade in small arms, which is worth about $4 billion a year. Small arms cause 60 percent to 90 percent of all deaths in conflicts every year, and African nations have been hardest hit.

The Kenyan capital Nairobi has itself earned the nickname "Nairobbery" for all the crime that occurs here. Wako also acknowledged that the government was struggling to control the problem.

"Both presently and in the recent past, there has been a notable increase of criminal incidences where firearms and ammunition⁵ are used as principal tools to execute heinous⁶ crimes such as murder, robbery with violence and car-jacking against members of the public by criminals and organized gangsters," Wako said.

The Kenyan government has come under criticism from human rights groups over an ammunition factory it operates in the city of Eldoret. The plant produces some 20 million bullets each year, far more than the two million bullets needed by government forces, and some groups allege⁷ that poor oversight⁸ has made it ripe for corruption⁹ and theft.

Wider African efforts to stop the trade in small arms have failed for many reasons. The area is so vast, and infrastructure¹⁰ is so poor, that it's proven extremely difficult to monitor the flow of light weapons or carry out awareness¹¹ campaigns.

Many places including much of Congo and Somalia are essentially¹² lawless. That means that fighters across the region have had little trouble getting their hands on the weapons they need.

1 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

2 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

3 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

4 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

5 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

6 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

7 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

8 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

9 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。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

11 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

12 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。