VOA标准英语2008年-Opposition Leader's Hometown Suspicious of Ugan

By Alisha Ryu
Kisumu, Kenya
21 January 2008

Uganda is strongly denying reports from Kenya that it has sent troops to help President Kibaki to quell¹ opposition² protests in the western part of the country. Anti-Ugandan sentiments are running high in the western city of Kisumu, home to opposition leader Raila Odinga, over rumors³ that the Kenyan government has incorporated hundreds of Ugandan troops into Kenya's paramilitary police. As VOA correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from Kisumu, there is a widespread belief that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is taking the side of President Mwai Kibaki in Kenya's post-election political dispute.

Like most of her neighbors in the Obunga slum in Kisumu, opposition supporter Eudia Anyango says she was deeply shocked by the Kenyan electoral commission's announcement that incumbent⁴ President Kibaki had won the December 27 presidential vote over their candidate, Raila Odinga.

That announcement was made on the evening of December 30, when, for the second day, this port town 300 kilometers west of the capital Nairobi, exploded in angry protests, rioting, and looting amid allegations that Mr. Kibaki had rigged the elections to stay in office for another five years.

According to residents here, Kenya's elite⁵ paramilitary police unit called the GSU was in Obungo, ostensibly to restore order. But Anyango says some GSU policemen fired their assault rifles wildly at groups of people, who were not threatening the police in any way.

One of the bullets hit Anyango's teen-aged daughter, killing⁶ her instantly. Anyango says she received another shock when neighbors told her whom they believed had shot the girl and many others in Kisumu and in neighboring villages.

"I was told that the Ugandans did this," Anyango says.

Reports of Ugandan troop presence in Kenya surfaced just after Kenyans voted in the closest presidential race in history.

Fishermen in Kisumu have told local media of seeing Ugandan men in military uniforms landing by boat along the shores of Lake Victoria and being picked up in government vehicles.

Other witnesses tell VOA that military-looking men speaking in English with Ugandan accents, but dressed in Kenyan GSU uniforms, have been harassing⁷ people in villages and markets for money and food.

A taxi driver in Kisumu, who identifies himself only as Richard, says he encountered several of them while he and some friends were buying bread at a local bakery a few weeks ago.

"They were telling us, 'We are visitors from the outside. Why do not you feed us? Just help us with one of two [loaves].' Then, I decided⁸ to give them one bread. So, we are asking ourselves, 'These people are visitors from another country. Which country is this?" asks Richard.

Kenyan suspicions that the Ugandan government of President Yoweri Museveni has sent members of his security forces in support of the Kenyan government stems partly from Mr. Museveni's perceived close friendship with President Kibaki. They note that the Ugandan president remains⁹ the only world leader to have congratulated Mr. Kibaki since the election.

Ugandan army spokesman Captain Paddy Ankunda says regardless of the friendly ties between the two governments, no Ugandan soldier has ever been knowingly sent to Kenya to boost Mr. Kibaki's bid to stay in power.

"That is a bad lie. There is nothing like that at all," he said. "Our forces are not anywhere near the Kenyan border and we have no intention whatsoever¹⁰ to send troops to Kenya."

Ugandan officials say President Museveni is in regular contact with both President Kibaki and Raila Odinga and that he is committed to assisting Kenyans find a lasting¹¹ solution to the political crisis. The Ugandan leader is scheduled to arrive Tuesday in Nairobi to help break the deadlock¹² that has plunged¹³ Kenya into the worst political and ethnic¹⁴ unrest since it gained independence from Britain in 1963.

Kenyan police chief in Kisumu, Grace Kaindi, also denies charges that the government is cooperating with the Ugandan military. Kaindi says she believes that residents are simply not familiar with the uniforms and the equipments used by the GSU and administrative¹⁵ police units that have been deployed¹⁶ to Kisumu.

"The locals are not used to the uniforms being worn by the police. When they saw these people coming in with funny gear, they thought they are coming from Uganda," said Kaindi.

But many opposition supporters in Kenya remain deeply suspicious.

During recent opposition demonstrations¹⁷ in Kisumu, angry protesters carried signs urging President Museveni to keep out of Kenyan politics. In recent days, goods being transported through Kenya to Uganda have been looted and a Kenyan mob uprooted¹⁸ several kilometers of the Uganda-Kenya railway line before the police could stop them.

A local businessman in Kisumu, Charles Awange, says there is a reason why many Kenyans remain wary¹⁹ of Uganda.

 

"Museveni's soldiers have disturbed many people in Africa, especially in Congo. This cannot be denied," he said.

In 1998, the Ugandan government flatly denied reports that its soldiers had entered eastern Congo Kinshasa. Uganda later admitted that it was conducting military operations there to protect Uganda from anti-Kampala rebels based in eastern Congo. The United Nations and human-rights groups accused Uganda of using the rebel threat as an excuse to steal Congo's resources.

Meanwhile, the director of operations for the Kenya Police, David Kimaiyo, says he has no knowledge of a report VOA has received of 1,100 Sudanese soldiers being incorporated into Kenyan police units in recent days.

According to one reliable VOA source in Nairobi, troops from southern Sudan, being trained by the Kenyan military, were deployed to the restive²⁰ Rift²¹ Valley in western Kenya last week, dressed in GSU uniforms.

Since late December, tens of thousands of people from President Kibaki's ethnic Kikuyu tribe have been chased from their homes in the Rift Valley by other ethnic groups resentful of what they say is Kikuyu domination of Kenyan politics, land ownership, and economy.

1 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

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 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 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。

7 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

11 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

12 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

13 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

14 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

15 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

16 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

17 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

18 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

20 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

21 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。