FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
This is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Farai Chideya.
The rallying cry in the election is changed, and we're not talking about Obama or America. We're talking about Africa and the election in Zimbabwe.
Voters in the Southern African nation are anxiously waiting to hear if their presidential election will bring a sea change in leadership. President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF Party have ruled for 28 years since winning a war over colonial leaders, but Zanu-PF lost control of parliament in last Saturday's election.
The government hasn't released the results in the presidential election yet, leading some locals and international observers to question whether the vote tallies are being rigged. Opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, says it won the presidential race outright and its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, should be president.
Yesterday, reports came in saying police raided the opposition party's headquarters. The police also detained some foreign journalists, including a New York Times correspondent.
I recently spoke with Precious Shumba. He's the secretary of Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights. I asked him to describe the mood in the capital city, Harare.
Mr. PRECIOUS SHUMBA (Secretary, Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights): Not many people are talking openly. Policemen armed and in riot gear almost in - at every corner. They are not attacking people, but people want the results. They want to know who their president is. They are very clear that Mugabe must go.
CHIDEYA: I also asked Precious Shumba if President Mugabe would have to leave Zimbabwe if he loses the election.
Mr. SHUMBA: If Mugabe loses, it is widely expected he will have to negotiate on almost every facet of his life. So the issue of whether he would stay here in Zimbabwe or elsewhere entirely depends on the new administration probably led by the opposition.
CHIDEYA: Finally, I asked Precious, who lives in the poor urban heart of the capital city, why he chooses to stay in the country and if he ever questions being a journalist in Zimbabwe where his career is risky and sometimes dangerous.
Mr. SHUMBA: It would be an act of cowardice if I were to say, I cease to be a journalist. I feel I'm accountable and needs to contribute to public discourse. So I'm not really intimidated or really afraid of what might happen to me.
CHIDEYA: Precious went on to say he feels it's his obligation to continue the work that other journalists and human rights activists had started. Again, that was secretary of Zimbabwe Journalists for Human Rights, Precious Shumba. He spoke with us by phone from Harare, Zimbabwe. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
