VOA标准英语2010年-Kenya's Two Leaders Fail to Meet to En

Power struggle between Odinga, Kibaki threatens political deal negotiated two years ago to end weeks of election violence.

Alan Boswell | Nairobi 22 February 2010

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki (L) and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga (R)

Kenya's two warring leaders failed to meet Sunday, despite an earlier pronouncement that they would, as the nation's political impasse¹ drags on.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga returned to Kenya on Sunday.  His office had earlier announced he would meet with President Mwai Kibaki to discuss a resolution to the country's weeklong political spat², but Mr. Kibaki's aides later denied the meeting had been set.

Instead, Mr. Odinga held a rally at Nairobi's expansive Kibera slum, during which he re-iterated he is confident the dispute would be amicably³ settled.  It is unclear when the two leaders will finally meet.

Analysts⁴ say that - behind the reformist rhetoric⁵ surrounding the dispute - political power grappling before the nation's next polls lies at the root of the quarrel.

The prime minister's party declared a "crisis", after Mr. Kibaki annulled⁶ two disciplinary suspensions Mr. Odinga handed down against two Cabinet ministers. 

Aides to the prime minister say the ability to discipline the two falls within Mr. Odinga's government oversight⁷ powers.  But the president's office, which denies the ruling coalition⁸ is facing a "crisis," claims Mr. Kibaki alone can force a minister to vacate his seat.

Although in early 2008 the two principals agreed, in theory, to an equal cut of power.  President Kibaki has maintained the firmer hold on most key government functions.

The prime minister has indicated he will seek control over his portion of the unity⁹ Cabinet positions as a path out of the current deadlock¹⁰.  Although Mr. Odinga filled half the slots of the coalition government, he appears impotent to remove any of his own Cabinet members without the president's consent.

His weak position became apparent after he had a falling out with a key member of his own party, Agriculture Minister William Ruto.  Ruto, who has become a fierce critic of the PM, was one of the two ministers Mr. Odinga tried to suspend.

Last week, a close ally and legal advisor¹¹ to the prime minister Lands Minister James Orengo said under the power-sharing deal, Mr. Odinga has the power to both appoint and sack his own side of the coalition.  He accused the nation's attorney general of misinterpreting the clauses of the accord.

Both sides of the coalition government have been implicated¹² in a pair of corruption¹³ scandals that saw millions lost in funds meant to assist the country's needy¹⁴.

More than $1 million is reported to have been stolen by officials in the education ministry¹⁵.  The funds were part of a program that is supposed to provide free primary education for the nation's children.

About $26 million is thought to have been lost in a food relief plan designed to close the country's food shortage.  Well-connected individuals were awarded subsidized maize¹⁶ contracts and then sold the commodity at regular market price, reaping in exorbitant¹⁷ profit margins¹⁸.

Also last week, Mr. Odinga's party called for the mediation¹⁹ of former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.

 

1 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

2 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

3 amicably   

adv.友善地

参考例句：

• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The couple parted amicably. 这对夫妻客气地分手了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

6 annulled   

v.宣告无效( annul的过去式和过去分词 )；取消；使消失；抹去

参考例句：

• Their marriage was annulled after just six months. 他们的婚姻仅过半年就宣告取消。
• Many laws made by the former regime have been annulled. 前政权制定的许多法律被宣布无效。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

12 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 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。

14 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

15 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。

16 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

17 exorbitant   

adj.过分的；过度的

参考例句：

• More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
• The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。

18 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

19 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。