VOA常速英语2007年-Violence Reported in Kenya as Vote Count Contin

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
29 December 2007

Scattered¹ violence has broken out in Kenya, amid delays in vote counting for what is shaping up to be the closest presidential race in the country's history. Partial results from Kenya's presidential elections show opposition² candidate Raila Odinga is leading incumbent³ President Mwai Kibaki. Vote tallies⁴ released Saturday from 189 of 210 constituencies put Mr. Odinga ahead with 4.3 million votes to Mr. Kibaki's 4 million.  Nick Wadhams reports from VOA's Nairobi bureau. 

Impatience⁵ with the delays in announcing a winner in Kenya's presidential vote boiled over into violence between supporters of opposition candidate Raila Odinga and incumbent President Mwai Kibaki in the Mathare slum in Nairobi.

Two days after the polls, the latest results gave Odinga a slight edge over President Kibaki. Just 21 of Kenya's 210 constituencies remain to be counted, including parts of Nairobi and strongholds of Mr. Kibaki. For that reason, the electoral commission has not declared a winner. People angry with the delays have looted shops, burned tires in the streets and smashed car windows.

Thursday's presidential and parliamentary vote had earlier been seen as a success, because voter turnout was high and several lawmakers tainted⁶ by corruption⁷ were voted out of office. But events took an ominous⁸ turn on Saturday and the delays have led to allegations of vote-rigging.

Kennedy Ajowi, an Odinga supporter in downtown Nairobi, says he fears that the electoral commission is delaying results to give Kibaki's team time to fabricate votes for its candidate.

"From the look of things he has been defeated already," he said. "There's no mistaking it. They are delaying so that they compare the number of votes remaining, so that they can compare, and then they shore them up to cover up whatever the balance."

Despite the delays, Odinga declared victory based on his party's own tally⁹. A member of Odinga's inner circle, Musalia Mudavadi, convened¹⁰ a news conference and called on Kibaki to step down.

"In view of the growing anxiety and restlessness in the country over the extended delay in releasing the presidential results by ECK, we now call upon the outgoing president to acknowledge and respect the will of the Kenyan people and concede defeat," said Mudavadi. "We further call upon him to direct his officers to begin the process of a smooth transition."

Mr. Kibaki's Party of National Unity¹¹ has condemned¹² the opposition's declaration of victory, and is demanding that Kenya wait for the official results. It maintains that Mr. Kibaki is leading in the polls.

Even after the opposition declaration of victory, Kenya's electoral commission continued to read out results.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger appealed for calm, and Kenyan police blocked off roads to downtown Nairobi, making the city center a ghost town.

The violence and delays are leading some electoral observers to revise reports that had been expected to declare Thursday's vote free and fair.

The head of the European Union observer mission, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, said some of the delays raised questions, but he also said there was no direct evidence of rigging so far.

"The delays we are all witnessing have been sharply criticized," he said. "They are clearly regrettable. They have rendered the announcement of the result of the presidential election impossible, while the tension in the population is rising. We do not now feel it is appropriate to make a judgment¹³ about an electoral process, which is clearly not yet over. It is clear that as the tallying¹⁴ process goes on, the delays are leading to mistrust and suspicion."

The head of the electoral commission, Samuel Kivuitu, now says he will demand final results by Sunday, or be forced to take action. But Kivuitu said even he had no idea why some areas had not reported in. He said phones were switched off at places where officials were tallying the polls.

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 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。

3 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

4 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

6 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

9 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

10 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

11 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

12 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

14 tallying   

v.计算，清点( tally的现在分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• In 2007 the state set a U.S. record, tallying 141 twisters. 该州在2007年以总计出现了141个龙卷风而创下了一个美国记录。 来自互联网
• We charge extra fee at 100% of the rates of tallying fees. 我们按理货收费率的100%收取附加费。 来自互联网