美国国家公共电台 NPR Kenyan Bus Driver Speaks Out Against Everyday Corruption On Live TV

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It's no secret that corruption¹ is widespread in Kenya. But recently, the conversation about it got real when a bus driver confronted the police and the president with a story of bribery² on national television. NPR's Eyder Peralta brings us the story of a matutu (ph) driver whose bravery sparked a national discussion about something people don't usually like to talk about.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE³: John Macharia walks me around Nairobi's downtown. Proudly, he's showing me all of the matatus, the little and medium-sized buses that crisscross the city. They're colorful and essential, but Macharia says they're often targeted by police for the smallest infractions. He points out a guy hanging from the side of a matatu shouting for passengers in Swahili.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking Swahili).

JOHN MACHARIA: See, by shouting this way, he's already committing an offense⁴.

PERALTA: Oh.

MACHARIA: But he must do it to get passengers.

PERALTA: Macharia became a national figure last month when he spoke⁵ up at a corruption forum⁶ attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta. He said that he had to have $8 in his pocket every day to pay off police. And then, in front of the president and the police chief, he made a serious accusation⁷.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MACHARIA: I believe the problem is that traffic policeman do not wake up to control traffic in Nairobi. They wake up in the morning to come and collect money from our buses - period.

(APPLAUSE)

PERALTA: The president remained silent, but the police chief Joseph Boinett shot back, joking or threatening that Macharia should be arrested.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOSEPH BOINETT: I wish I had time to arrest this guy because he has made several confessions⁹.

(LAUGHTER)

BOINETT: He should be in some police station heading to court.

PERALTA: The episode wasn't shocking to Kenyans, says Mary Daraja, a news editor at the Kenya Broadcasting Company (ph). But it generated sympathy for Macharia because he exposed a practice many Kenyans are ashamed of.

MARY DARAJA: It was just a confession⁸ being made by someone who believes that what he is doing is wrong, but he's doing it anyway. And maybe he was asking for help.

PERALTA: Macharia's story, says Daraja, made Kenyans look inward.

DARAJA: We, Kenyans, are also to blame because when we see a driver bribing¹⁰ the police, we keep quiet. When we see a police officer committing crime, we keep quiet.

PERALTA: Macharia stayed off his route for two weeks. He was afraid that one of those cops would come after him. He thought about that before he spoke up. But the reality of corruption ate at him. He had seen drivers refuse to pay bribes¹¹ just to have police tow their vehicles. He himself had been to court every Monday for a year to fight a trumped¹² up ticket. Everyday police corruption may seem small, he says, but it can also ruin Kenya's future.

MACHARIA: I pity our children when they go to school, and they see somebody taking money. What that child will grow knowing that you can buy freedom using money.

PERALTA: Macharia did get behind the wheel of his matatu, and police have so far let him be.

MACHARIA: But there are others out there suffering. Maybe I'm lucky because I was bold enough to be there and say it. But there is a - they're suffering a lot. They're suffering.

PERALTA: The Independent Policing Oversight¹³ Authority did look into Macharia's complaints. They told me that they found his stories believable, and they've referred his case to the courts. But since the independent watchdog was set up in 2012, the courts have reached verdicts in only two of their cases. Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Nairobi.

1 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。

2 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。

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 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

8 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

9 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 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

11 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

12 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。