‘Why did Morgan sign?” asks the hot-and-bothered receptionist, ‘He agreed to what he was refusing before. They are just going to argue.’ Harare is not sure what it thinks. ‘I’m celebrating. I think it’s a step forward’ are the words of a respected social justice activist. ‘They agreed to disagree later,’ says one of the capital’s hip hop MCs. The capital city is saying many things. And they are all different.
The mood isn’t jubilant. Some MDC supporters are celebrating. Some ordinary people are happy. Students are rioting. Civil society is having a constitutional conference. Most people aren’t sure what to think. They would rather wait and see. This isn’t freedom. It’s far from it. It’s going to be a long walk to freedom. A road filled with potholes and roadblocks. The next few months will be key in ensuring that the grassroots dictates the pace when it comes to the constitution, social and economic justice and basic political freedoms. Those in the democratic movement have to burst the space wide open so that we create freedom instead of begging for it from a compromised government. It’s a crucial few months for Zimbabwe. And this dirty marriage-of-convenience government seems to be ready to crack open on a daily basis.
