VOA常速英语2007-Opinion Poll Suggests Kenya Elections Will Bring

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
15 October 2007

A new opinion poll suggests that most Kenyans believe their parliamentary representatives should be replaced, an indication that the country may see a major political shift in elections set for later this year. Nick Wadhams has the story from Nairobi.

The poll from the International Republican Institute was conducted with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. It sampled three thousand people across Kenya last month and had a margin² of error of less than two percent, and found that more than 63 percent believe the lawmaker from their region does not deserve to be re-elected.

The IRI Kenya program director, Ken¹ Flottman, says the results show that Kenyans are generally happy with the direction the country is headed in economically but that there are too many people who are unemployed³ or work in the informal sector⁵ to feel totally satisfied.

"You can't look at the demographic numbers and feel too sanguine⁶ about the Kenyan economy or feel like it would make sense for the average voter to be too enthusiastic about where Kenya is right now even though they're positive about the direction the country is going in economically," he said.

Kenya's parliament has been the target of particular ire in recent months after a series of votes that were seen as an attempt by lawmakers to shield themselves from prosecution⁷ or line their own pockets after they leave office.

In one case, they gave themselves bonuses worth $22,000, and in another they tried to block corruption⁸ probes that date back to before 2003. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki later vetoed that measure.

The poll results could indicate that Kenya will witness a major political reorientation in the elections set for later this year. A coalition⁹ led by Mr. Kibaki has 132 of parliament's 224 seats. And other recent opinion polls have shown the president trailing the leading opposition¹⁰ candidate, Raila Odinga, in popularity.

According to the poll, Kenyans believe the most important issue that the government must address is creating jobs, with issues of security and living standards after that. Flottman said the poll also showed that Kenyans are concerned about security - a major issue after police began rounding up and sometimes killing¹¹ suspected members of a mafia-like sect⁴ known as the Mungiki.

"What would you say about the situation with insecurity? 33.7 feel it's gotten better, 20.3 feel it's stayed the same, the plurality answer here is that it's gotten worse. Again, it's a mixed bag, I mean there's obviously not one consensus¹² answer but it's obviously something that people are concerned about," added Flottman.

Among other findings, the poll shows that Kenyans have a great deal of political awareness¹³. Eighty-six percent correctly identified their member of parliament, and more than 90 percent of respondents said they would vote in the elections set for December.

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 sanguine   

adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的

参考例句：

• He has a sanguine attitude to life.他对于人生有乐观的看法。
• He is not very sanguine about our chances of success.他对我们成功的机会不太乐观。

7 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

8 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。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 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。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

13 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。