VOA常速英语2007年-Sierra Leone's President Says Fighting Corrupti

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
14 November 2007

Sierra Leone's recently elected president, Ernest Koroma, will be formally inaugurated on Thursday, with eight West African heads of state expected to be in attendance. Mr. Koroma has been in office since September, and reaction to his early anti-corruption² efforts are already surfacing. Naomi Schwarz has more on the story from VOA's regional bureau in Dakar.

On Thursday, Sierra Leone's former president, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah will hand over the presidential staff to new president, Ernest Koroma, in a ceremony marking the democratic transfer of power.

It is the first transfer of power since Sierra Leone's civil war ended in 2002, and observers have called the election and its aftermath a test for Sierra Leone's re-emerging democracy.

Viktor Foh, secretary-general of Mr. Koroma's political party, the All People's Congress, says the mood in Freetown is already festive³.

"People are coming. Already Freetown is full and as I talk to you, people are arriving. Heads of state are arriving. We are in a very festive mood," he said.

But Foh says, the ceremony is merely a formality. Mr. Koroma was actually sworn into office in September. The official festivities were postponed⁴ because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims are not supposed to celebrate.

In Mr. Koroma's first two months in office, he has made strong statements about fighting corruption. Corruption Watchdog Transparency International ranks Sierra Leone among the world's most corrupt¹ countries.

As a first step, Foh says Mr. Koroma audited⁵ the entire government to identify problems. He says the report showed there were many areas to improve.

"The last government was very much corrupt," he explained. "Every ministry⁶ audited has proven to be very corrupt. So our country is behind because of corruption."

In Dakar, Human Rights Watch's Corinne Dufka, said corruption and bad governance are long-standing issues in Sierra Leone.

"It didn't come out of nowhere, Sierra Leone's armed conflict, it was the result of decades of corruption and mismanagement of the country's vast natural resources and so it is key that President Koroma has identified some of these key issues which have been bedeviling the Sierra Leonean people for many, many years. But is now time that he has to take concrete actions to begin addressing some of these problems," she said.

Human Rights Watch Wednesday sent an open letter to Mr. Koroma urging him to make good on his promises against corruption and other problems in the government.

Dufka says she is encouraged by Mr. Koroma's steps so far. He has appointed several well-respected civil society leaders to important posts, including the Anti-Corruption Commission..

But Dufka says Mr. Koroma needs to strengthen the commission by extending its power beyond investigating crimes to also prosecuting⁷ them.

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 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。

3 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

4 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

5 audited   

v.审计，查账( audit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The accounts have to be audited by a firm of external auditors. 这些账目必须由一家外聘审计员的公司来稽查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• E. g. few if any charities collection publishes audited accounts. 例如很少义款收集有公布经过查核的帐目。 来自互联网

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。