美国国家公共电台 NPR--The run up to Kenya's election is messier than normal. Voters wonder if it's for show

The run up to Kenya's election is messier than normal. Voters wonder if it's for show

Transcript¹

Ahead of an election next Tuesday, Kenya's presidential race has been full of twists and turns that have shocked voters.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Imagine a sitting president who drops his running mate, then supports his archrival in the next presidential race. That's exactly the kind of thing happening in Kenya. In what seems like a work of fiction, old adversaries² have become allies, and longtime friends are now enemies. It has left voters wondering whether Kenyan politics is all just a show. NPR's Eyder Peralta reports from Nairobi.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE³: In Kenya, political rallies are like big parties.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Singing in non-English language).

PERALTA: There are DJs and dancing. And politicians arrive in big, fancy cars and sometimes in helicopters. At a stadium in Nairobi, female leaders from across Kenya gather in support of Deputy President William Ruto, who's running for president. They wear beads⁴ and beautiful, colorful fabric⁵ printed with the faces of their favorite politician.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in non-English language).

PERALTA: Politics, at the moment, in Kenya is messier than usual. In the middle of his second term, the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, parted ways with his deputy. And then he left jaws⁶ wide open when he decided⁷ to make peace with his historical enemy, Raila Odinga. Just to be clear, the president is term-limited, so he's not running in this race. And he's not backing his deputy, as you normally would. Instead, he's supporting his former archrival. Everyone here talks about these politicians as if they know them. They talk about them like you would wrestlers on WWE or about the drama between Kim and Kanye.

BETH WAMBUI NJUGUNA: (Speaking Swahili).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER #1: They feel unhappy because the president had promised Ruto, like, he shall rule for 10 years. And he shall leave it to Ruto for 10 years.

PERALTA: To Beth Wambui Njuguna, this was a betrayal of biblical proportions. So she decided to turn her back on President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Does it feel like a soap opera to you?

NJUGUNA: Yes. (Speaking Swahili).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER #1: The president played them.

PERALTA: Florence Kariuki, who's standing⁸ next to her, says she thinks these huge plot twists, these public disagreements, are actually engineered.

FLORENCE KARIUKI: They don't have enemies. Politician - they don't have enemies.

PERALTA: So you think it's like a show?

KARIUKI: Yes, it's a show.

(LAUGHTER)

PERALTA: And just as we speak, the show goes on. The deputy president's convoy⁹ rolls into the stadium, and the crowd goes wild.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) Ruto. Ruto. Ruto. Ruto.

PATRICK GATHARA: This is like the No. 1 national soap, you know? It's politics.

PERALTA: That is Patrick Gathara. He's a political cartoonist and one of the most incisive¹⁰ social critics in Kenya. He says the elites¹¹ in Kenya present their disagreements in political terms, as a battle of ideas and disagreements over the shape of the constitution or how elections should be run. On the stump¹² and in the tabloids¹³, those disagreements take the form of vicious personal attacks. But Gathara says that's all an illusion.

GATHARA: They all know one another. Their kids go to the same schools. You know, they're basically friends. But they portray¹⁴ this fight. They give us this impression. It's a show that they put on.

PERALTA: But do you really believe that none of this is real?

GATHARA: It's not real.

PERALTA: Gathara says that's why friends can become enemies from one day to the other, or why horrific political violence ends suddenly after the protagonists¹⁵ hash out their differences over tea. It's a great, orchestrated drama that keeps Kenya in a sort of trance, he says. The politicians constantly switch sides, and the problems of the country remain unsolved.

How do you, as a Kenyan - how do Kenyans not fall into, like, fatalism and incredible cynicism?

GATHARA: I think they do. In fact, the way our politics is run now is you basically grab what you can get when you can get it. That's why people sell their vote.

PERALTA: But even if the politics here are orchestrated, they have incredible repercussions¹⁶. After the 2007 elections, more than a thousand people were killed in ethnic¹⁷ clashes. The last time around, in 2017, dozens were killed.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Have a seat.

PERALTA: In Mathare, one of the big slums in Nairobi, mothers whose children were killed in 2017 created a room of remembrance. They embroidered¹⁸ their children's name on a huge fabric banner - Kelvin, Muthengi, Martin, Lamecko. Mama Paul, as she calls herself, pulls out her cellphone. She shows me a picture.

This is your boy?

MAMA PAUL: My boy, yeah.

PERALTA: How old was he?

PAUL: He was 23 years.

PERALTA: Twenty-three.

Amid violent post-election protests, he headed to the hospital where his wife was giving birth. And before he got there, he was shot dead by police.

PAUL: (Speaking Swahili).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER #2: She doesn't have the feeling to vote again. I think what happened killed her, part of her body.

PAUL: (Speaking Swahili).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER #2: Even after the incident, she had to throw away her voting card.

PERALTA: Benna Buluma lost two sons in 2017. One of them was shot in the face, his body left strewn on the streets. The two politicians who sparked that violence in 2017 - the president and his former archrival - are now best buds.

BENNA BULUMA: (Speaking Swahili).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER #2: They only say sorry to each other, but not to the people who are fighting for them, the people who are voting for them.

PERALTA: Buluma is now raising her grandkids alone without any help. And just on the horizon, next week is another election that has already spawned¹⁹ violence.

Why do Kenyans still show up though? Every time they have a rally here, it's full of people.

BULUMA: (Speaking Swahili).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER #2: So because you get the money, you go there knowing, well, after there, I'll go home and buy a maize²⁰ flour. I'll buy a sukuma wiki. I'll buy a certain food. I'll buy clothes for my family. It is like a job now.

PERALTA: Politics is a play they are not proud to take part in. But life is hard in Kenya, so taking a handout²¹ from a politician might keep you from going hungry for a day or two. So what else, she says, are they supposed to do?

Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Nairobi.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA'S "IGUAZU")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

5 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

6 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

10 incisive   

adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的

参考例句：

• His incisive remarks made us see the problems in our plans.他的话切中要害，使我们看到了计划中的一些问题。
• He combined curious qualities of naivety with incisive wit and worldly sophistication.他集天真质朴的好奇、锐利的机智和老练的世故于一体。

11 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

12 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

13 tabloids   

n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片

参考例句：

• The story was on the front pages of all the tabloids. 所有小报都在头版报道了这件事。
• The story made the front page in all the tabloids. 这件事成了所有小报的头版新闻。

14 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

15 protagonists   

n.（戏剧的）主角( protagonist的名词复数 )；（故事的）主人公；现实事件（尤指冲突和争端的）主要参与者；领导者

参考例句：

• Mrs Pankhurst was one of the chief protagonists of women's rights. 潘克赫斯特太太是女权的主要倡导者之一。 来自辞典例句
• This reflects that Feng Menglong heartily sympathized with these protagonists. 这反映出冯梦龙由衷地同情书中的这些主要人物。 来自互联网

16 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 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。

18 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

19 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

20 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

21 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。