警察与抗议者在肯尼亚选举中发生冲突

Police, Protestors Clash in Kenya’s Election

On Thursday, Kenyan police fired bullets and tear gas at stone-throwing protesters who were against a repeat of the country’s disputed presidential election.

In Kenya’s third largest city, Kisumu, gunfire killed one person and wounded three others.

Riot police also fired tear gas in two Nairobi slums. Protesters started fires early in the morning on Thursday and a church was firebombed.

In August, President Uhuru Kenyatta won 54 percent of the vote in the country’s presidential election. Opposition¹ leader Raila Odinga received nearly 45 percent of the vote.

However, Kenya’s Supreme² Court overturned the results because of what it described as “irregularities and illegalities” in the vote.

Kenyatta called the justices “crooks” and ordered a new election.

The night before the court was to consider a last-minute appeal to delay the vote, a driver for the deputy chief justice was shot and wounded.

The shooting recalled the murder shortly before the August vote of a top election official responsible for electronic voting.

Human rights groups say police killed at least 67 people during protests after the August vote.

Meanwhile, Odinga has dropped out of the new vote. He said reforms have not been made to make the vote credible⁴. He asked his supporters to boycott⁵ the voting.

One school in Kisumu that saw huge lines of voters in the August election was closed Thursday. Its gates were locked. An opposition supporter said “We are not going to vote and we are not going to allow it.”

An election official, John Ngutai Muyekho, sat with the uncollected boxes in another school guarded by security forces. He said no ballot⁶ boxes had been delivered to the 190 polling stations in Kisumu.

Voting went on in areas where President Uhuru Kenyatta has support. However, the Associated Press reported that fewer voters were turning out in those areas than in the August election.

At a polling station in Kenyatta’s hometown of Gatundu, a voter said, “Our hope for the country is that whoever emerges the winner will be able to unite the country, which is already torn apart by politicians and politics of the day.”

In 2013, Odinga lost to Kenyatta in an election filled with accusations⁷ of vote rigging. Odinga also ran unsuccessfully in 2007. More than 1,000 people were killed in that election and another 600,000 were forced from their homes.

Many observers say ethnic⁸ divisions hurt the promise of Kenya’s democracy. Kenyatta is from the Kikuyu tribe, while Odinga is a Luo.

I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

slum - n. crowded urban area where poor people live

crook³ - n. a dishonest person

1 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。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

4 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？

5 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

6 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

8 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。