肯尼亚政府叫停美国资助的选举教育计划

 

The government of Kenya has ended operations of a United States-funded program aimed at educating Kenyans about voting.

The Kenyan government action comes just months before the East African country holds its next presidential election. Last week, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta claimed money entering the country through the program is an attempt to influence the election.

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) operated the $20 million program. The IFES is a non-governmental organization, an NGO, which supports free and fair elections around the world.

The NGO receives funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State.

Fazul Mohamed is the executive director of the NGO Coordination¹ Board. This is the state-run corporation responsible for regulating NGOs in Kenya. Mohamed wrote in a letter to the IFES that the Board was stopping the program. The reason he gave was the IFES is not a registered NGO and all its foreign workers are operating illegally.

U.S. ambassador to Kenya Robert F. Godec said “the attempt to discredit² the United States' efforts to assist Kenyans in the conduct of free, fair, peaceful and credible³ elections in 2017” disappointed him.

Godec added the Kenyan government and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had requested U.S. assistance. The IEBC is an independent Kenyan organization that supervises elections. Godec added that the program operated under their “careful oversight⁴.”

Also, the IFES is registered under a Kenyan law called the Companies Act, the ambassador said. This means the organization is legally able to run programs in the country.

In a separate statement, the U.S. and 11 other countries said they do not provide help to one candidate or political party over another. The statement said, "the Kenyan people alone have the sovereign right to choose their leaders, and we fully⁵ respect this right.”

Kenyatta is running for re-election next year. He has accused opposition⁶ leader Raila Odinga of secretly working with foreign countries to remove him from power.

Kenyatta entered his office in 2013. He gained support from people who were angry over what they considered attempts by Western countries to influence Kenya’s elections.

At that time, the International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Kenyatta and fellow politician William Ruto with crimes against humanity. The court in The Netherlands said the two men organized violence following the troubled elections in December 2007. Former President Mwai Kibaki claimed victory over Raila Odinga in that election.

More than 1,000 people died and 600,000 lost their homes in the election violence.

Kenyatta and Ruto were on different sides of the conflict but became allies after the ICC named them as suspects. They then said that the ICC charges were an attempt to help Odinga.

The ICC later dropped the charges because of lack of evidence. However, the top ICC lawyer in the case said witnesses were interfered⁷ with and faced threats.

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

fund(ed) – v. to provide money for something

regulating – v. making rules or laws that control something

credible – adj. reasonable to trust or believe

disappoint(ed) –v. to make someone unhappy by not being as good as expected or by not doing something that was hoped for or expected

oversight – n. the act or job of directing work that is being done

sovereign – adj. having independent authority and the right to govern itself

1 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

2 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

3 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

4 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。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 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。

7 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》