2006年VOA标准英语-Kenya Investigates Sale of Famine Food Aid

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
13 January 2006

The Kenyan government is investigating claims that some relief food that had been donated to famine victims in the north and east is instead being sold in the marketplace.

Footage playing on the Kenya Television Network Thursday night showed shops in the eastern town of Garissa displaying bags marked "GoK (Government of Kenya) Relief: Not for Sale."

A Kenyan newspaper Friday described how journalists saw shopkeepers displaying hundreds of bags of maize¹ and beans, cartons of powdered milk and cooking oil, and unimix, which is a special supplement for malnourished children.

It is not clear how the shopkeepers obtained the food aid, or how widespread the problem is in Kenya, where more than 20 districts that have been hit hard by the drought.

There are allegations that local government officials and businessmen have been diverting the food aid and benefiting from its sale.

Some shopkeepers say that starving people have traded in their food rations² for sugar, tea, rice and other items.

An official with the Office of the President, Simiyu wa Sanja, tells VOA his government is looking into the matter.

"We have handed this over to the authorities, the investigative arms of the government," he said. "We have to find out, [and] establish the truth. We don't know where that information came from, we just saw it in the press."

Mr. Sanja did not give any details of the investigation³, and says food aid is still reaching the people who need it.

VOA was unable to contact government spokesman Alfred Mutua for comment. Mutua was quoted in the press as saying, if anyone sells or misuses⁴ relief food, they will suffer the consequences, and the government will not be gentle to them.

Food aid donated by the government, local businesses, Kenyans and others is being transported to the affected⁵ districts.

The secretary-general of the Kenya Red Cross, Abbas Gullet, tells VOA the government Friday morning asked his group to distribute government relief food in about 10 districts because of complaints that the relief is not reaching people most in need.

Gullet says he thinks the sale of the relief food is "despicable," but he says the media reports should not overshadow efforts being made to help the people hit hard by the famine.

  
  
"My concern is, today, there are Kenyans who need assistance like yesterday and that's what we should focus on," he said. "And we should not concentrate on negative publicity⁶, which then of course muddles⁷ around everyone, and everyone then comes with suspicion: Is this the order of the day? How big is this? Where, when, who, what, and all that. There are a lot of good works being done."

The drought, which has lasted for several months, has claimed at least 40 lives, and has been declared a "national disaster" by the Kenyan government.

1 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。

2 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 misuses   

n.用错，滥用( misuse的名词复数 )；误用者v.使用…不当( misuse的第三人称单数 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misuses his horses by giving them loads that are too heavy. 他给它们过重的负荷来虐待他的马。 来自互联网
• He often misuses his authority to tyrannize his underlings. 他常用手中的职权凌轹下属。 来自互联网

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

7 muddles   

v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的第三人称单数 )；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• Translation muddles model concepts, which leads to destructive refactoring of code. 这些转换混淆了模型的概念，可能导致重构代码时的失败。 来自互联网
• A glass of whisky soon muddles him. 一杯威士忌很快就会把他醉得迷迷糊糊。 来自互联网