VOA常速英语2008年-Infighting Increases Kenya's Political Troubles

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
11 April 2008

Kenya's leaders remain divided over how to put together a coalition¹ government as part of a power-sharing deal signed in February following December's disputed elections. But even if an acceptable list of ministers is agreed upon, the impasse² has heightened doubts about the coalition's sustainability. Derek Kilner reports from Nairobi.

Under February's agreement, President Mwai Kibaki and opposition³ leader Raila Odinga, set to take the newly-created position of prime minister, agreed to divide up the government's ministries⁴ on a 50-50 basis.

Now, a month-and-a-half since the agreement, the two are still unable to agree on who will control which ministries. Mr. Odinga is demanding that his party control an equal share of the more powerful ministries. President Kibaki, who had already appointed 17 ministers when the deal was signed, including the most-coveted jobs, has been unwilling⁵ to let them go.

The contested ministries include finance, foreign affairs, justice, local government, internal security, and roads. All of these are currently filled by powerful members of President Kibaki's Party of National Unity⁶.  Members of the party are concerned that with Mr. Odinga controlling key ministries, he could wrest⁷ control of the government.

Disputes have also resurfaced over whether the 50-50 arrangement applies to jobs other than ministers, including permanent secretaries, civil service positions, and directors of government agencies. Mr. Odinga's supporters say it will not be true power-sharing if these officials are all named by the president. The president's supporters warn that dividing them evenly between the rival parties would politicize the positions.

This week, Mr. Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement announced a suspension of negotiations⁸. President Kibaki and Mr. Odinga say they are still committed to reaching a deal, but discussions have not resumed.

And the rhetoric⁹ has sharpened, with both sides raising the possibility of new elections if the talks fail, although few say this is a real possibility because the electoral apparatus¹⁰ responsible for December's disputed vote is still in place.

Foreign diplomats¹¹, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband have issued statements in recent days calling for an end to the impasse.

Pressure from the international community, both from regional leaders and Western donors¹², was widely seen as critical in securing February's deal.

Political scientist Katumanga Musambayi, of the University of Nairobi, says pressure may push the rivals to agree again.

"They really like the West so much," he said. "Many of them, including their businesses, are very seriously intertwined with international capital."

Others are more skeptical¹³. Cyprian Nyamwamu is a leader of the National Civil Society Congress, a coalition of civil society groups in Kenya.

"The media has kept saying those statements are putting pressure on Kibaki, they are not," said Nyamwamu. "Mwai Kibaki is somebody who has a very huge capacity to ignore public opinion. He focuses very much on what serves him best and he asks himself what are they going to do? He's saying you Americans and you Britons, go jump over the next bridge."

Even if the sides are able to agree on a coalition, the dispute has raised serious concern about how long such an arrangement can survive. Musambayi is among those who question its viability¹⁴.

"If you can't even implement¹⁵ a very, very small accord, what are the chances that when you get to form a Cabinet one way or another you'll even join together," said Musambayi. "What you're talking about is a case where Raila sees himself as the agent of change and the other guys are trying to block that process. So you'll have a paralysis¹⁶ after maybe the second year. That is if they're very, very lucky."

Some critics, like Cyprian Nyamwamu, claim that President Kibaki has never been interested in truly sharing power.

"Kibaki is busy maximizing his interests and planning his succession very carefully," said Nyamwamu. "They want to end up with a government that does not work so that the PNU [Party of National Unity] side can throw out ODM at an appropriate time."

ODM member of parliament Ababu Namwamba is among those who have raised the possibility of new elections. But he is optimistic about the possibility of cooperation between the two sides once there is a government.

 

"I think any coalition government is by its very nature a monumental challenge," said Namwamba. "But I'm sure we would be in a position to negotiate around those challenges. At the end of the day, all this grandstanding is going to calm down and then even Kibaki himself, I believe he will reach a point where he will realize that his legacy¹⁷ is more important than satisfying the hardliners around him."

Meanwhile, the delay has set off protests in Nairobi's Kibera slum and the western city of Kisumu, both opposition strongholds. Residents of Kibera have been tearing up a section of the Nairobi-Kisumu railroad, and extra police have been deployed¹⁸ to these areas as well as the volatile¹⁹ Rift²⁰ Valley region.

The incidents have recalled the turmoil²¹ that followed December's elections, which resulted in some 1,200 deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands, and have provided a reminder²² of the potential consequences if the country's tenuous²³ power-sharing arrangement falls apart.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

5 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

6 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。

7 wrest   

n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲

参考例句：

• The officer managed to wrest the gun from his grasp.警官最终把枪从他手中夺走了。
• You wrest my words out of their real meaning.你曲解了我话里的真正含义。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 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。

10 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

11 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

14 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

15 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

16 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

17 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

18 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。

19 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

20 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。

21 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

22 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

23 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。