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184 肯尼亚通过反贪污议案
Controversial Amnesty Included in Kenya Anti-Corruption Bill
Katy Salmon
Nairobi
17 Jul 2001 16:37 UTC
Kenya's attorney general has published a new anti-corruption bill that would grant 1)amnesty to officicials suspected of 2)graft. However the opposition says it would 3)repeal the law if it comes to power.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes legislation would grant amnesty for economic crimes committed before December 1997. Opposition parties say this would let decades of theft of public money go 4)unpunished.
The bill is one several pieces of 5)legislation demanded by the International Monetary Fund as a condition for resuming lending to Kenya. Aid was 6)suspended last year after the government 7)backtracked on promises to fight 8)corruption.
Alfred Nderitu of the opposition Democratic Party says those 9)guilty of stealing from public coffers must be punished.
But the bill's supporters argue that an amnesty is the only way to persuade the old guard of Kenya's politicians to leave office in next year's elections without fear of reprisals.
Even if the bill is passed, Mr. Nderitu says the opposition will 10)reverse it whenever it comes to power. "I know many of these people in parliament, read ministers, assistant ministers, have all been involved in corruption of one way or the other," Mr. Nderitu said. "I know they will try to hoodwink us, but Kenyans will never forget. It's just a matter of time. When it passes, we can still next year when we take over the government 11)revoke it and cancel it because that's not the end of day. There is no way we can let them go, no way. Kenyans have suffered a lot."
However, observers say the ruling Kanu party has a strong chance of winning the 2002 poll. The party has won every election since Kenya's independence in 1963.
The anti-corruption bill needs a simple majority in parliament to become law.
Mr. Nderitu of the opposition Democratic Party says the government will not seek a vote on the legislation until it can be sure of winning, possibly - he charges - by bribing members of parliament. "Now they are pulling themselves backwards because they have seen the mood and the temperature of people," Mr. Nderitu said. "Now they can't bring it at the moment. They will look for a time when the mood is good and when the government has done something for good for these MPs. We had a vote of no confidence where MPs were bought and money was 12)circulating around here. I tend to think these are the plans they are going to have. And if they do that, we warn them it's Kenya they are throwing to the dogs."
Last month, Kenya was 13)ranked the fifth most corrupt country in the world by the anti-corruption 14)watchdog group Transparency International.
(1) amnesty[5AmnIstI]n.(尤指对反政府政治犯的)特赦
(2) graft[^rB:ft; (?@) ^rAft]n.嫁接, 赎职v.嫁接, 移植(皮肤等), 赎职
(3) repeal[rI5pi:l]v.废止, 撤销, 否定n.废除, 撤销
(4) unpunished[Qn5pQnIFt]adj.未受惩罚的
(5) legislation[ledVIs5leIF(E)n]n.立法, 法律的制定(或通过)
(6) suspend[sE5spend]vt.吊, 悬挂v.延缓
(7) backtrack[5bAktrAk]vi.(由原路)返回, 退走, 撤退, 放弃
(8) corruption[kE5rQpF(E)n]n.腐败, 贪污, 堕落
(9) guilty[5^IltI]adj.犯罪的, 有罪的, 心虚的
(10) reverse[rI5v:s]n.相反, 背面adj.相反的, 颠倒的vt.颠倒, 倒转
(11) revoke[rI5vEJk]vt.撤回, 废除, 宣告无效
(12) circulate[5s:kjJleIt]v.(使)流通, (使)运行, (使)循环, (使)传播
(13) rank[rANk]n.等级, 横列, 阶级vt.排列, 归类于vi.列为, 列队
(14) watchdog[5wRtFdR^]n.看门狗, 监察人(员))adj.看门狗的, 充当监察人员的
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