2006年VOA标准英语-Ghana Disputes Corruption Ranking

By Efam Dovi
Accra
07 November 2006

Ghana's government is questioning the basis of a Transparency International report that named the West African nation as one of the most corrupt¹ countries in world.   
 

		Ghana Government spokesman Frank Agyekum

Government spokesman Frank Agyekum says the Kufuor administration is disappointed about the findings of the report, because a number of measures have been introduced to help curb² corruption³ in the country.

"I talked of such mechanism⁴ as the procurement⁵ act, as the financial administration act, as the whistle-blowers act, as the internal auditors⁶ act, all these measure that have been put in place by government to help stem the tide of corruption," he noted⁷.

Transparency International has been conducting annual corruption surveys for 11 years.  Its report is compiled from numerous surveys of business people and country analysts⁸ who are asked for their perception of a country's corruption.

The 2006 report, released Monday, scored Ghana at three-point-three points, on a scale of one to 10, with the lowest being the most corrupt.

Agyekum questions the basis for the score.

"They gave us a score of 3.3, the same as in 1999," he added.  "And I am saying that if in 1999 you gave us three-point-three when we did not have all these laws in place and 2006 when we have all these laws in place, is it to say that we have 3.3 it means that in the interim⁹, you are trying to say, that we have not done anything at all?  And that is not true."

There is widespread public perception of corruption among public officials in Ghana.  But Agyekum says the Transparency International report does not reflect the positive developments that have been achieved.

"We are not saying that as a government we are 100 percent corruption free," he said.  "That is not what we are trying to say.  But we are saying that yes before these laws came into being we have a low mark, we could understand.  But these laws have come, and you realized that when you talk about corruption, yes it has always persisted in the police force and stuff like that in all those areas.  But also in the area of purchases of government equipment, you had a lot of corruption going on, and that is where procurement act did come in."

Agyekum says the government is committed to win the fight against corruption.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Integrity Initiative, the local branch of Transparency International, has called for the government to do more to deal with corruption.

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

3 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。

4 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

5 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

6 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。