"HARARE DIARY: COSTLY FREEDOM "

Esther (not her real name), 29, is a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.

She describes how her life has changed during the first 100 days of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF and Prime Minister Tsvangirai's MDC began their power-sharing alliance in January.

Below, Esther asks her fellow Zimbabweans whether they feel the unity government has delivered on its promises.

Our unity government has hit 100 days in office. Wow!

I think there are people out there who did not expect it to last that long, without the cracks really beginning to show.

How would I rate their performance? I'd give them four out of 10, based on the promises they made to us.

And that is me being very kind!

Our hospitals are still not functioning - they are without medication.

Our schools are still not working properly.

Many teachers are still not going to work because nobody wants to work for $100 a month.

And there are still land invasions taking place.

The one good thing, is that we feel more free.

There used to be police officers in full riot gear on every street corner. It was in your face.

But the coming of the unity government has meant the disappearance of those policemen.

I feel excited to see people walking around in t-shirts for MDC. T-shirts which commemorate Susan Tsvangirai.

You could never have done that last year.

Every day I used to pass a bunch of police in full riot gear, on my way to work.

It was very unpleasant. It even made me angry - those people were threatening.

They were promising that if they didn't like the way you were talking about the government, they would unleash violence.

Or if you made a joke they didn't understand, they were going to beat you up.

It was really upsetting. Scary even.

But now we feel free to be ourselves. That is a huge point, after everything we went through last year.

Maximum security

But as for the political prisoners, I am very disappointed.

The opposition had said they would work within the system to get them free.

Well, only high-profile cases have been released, such as Jestina Mukoko and Roy Bennett, who was arrested after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.

I have a cousin whose husband was arrested for allegedly taking part in "plotting a coup" two years ago.

He has never been tried, and he is still in a maximum security prison.

I'm disappointed. The unity government fought very hard for our freedom.

But what about the guys sitting in jail? They are the guys who really really fought behind the headlines.

Tighten your belt

Financially, life is getting much harder. You can buy food now - everything is available.

But everything is more expensive because we can only buy in US dollars.

Life is a lot tighter. Before, I could survive comfortably on $50 a month, even $20.

Now I need more like $200, just for food and transport. It's painful to adjust to the lower standard of life.

Where do I find the extra money? Well that's the big problem - I can't.

I used to be able to wheel and deal - sell a few fuel coupons and groceries.

But now I can't because these commodities are freely available.

I have to cut back on my lifestyle instead. For example, I can no longer afford meat every day.

The meat is the most expensive thing on the grocery list.

I miss those chicken steaks! And going out for pizza. I miss things like that.

Ghost towns

The MDC wanted to revive the economy, but I think the best they can do is stabilise it, so that we can have a free and fair election.

I think our economy will only stabilise when we have right of ownership over property, and the rule of law. I don't think that can happen while Zanu-PF are in the government.

Our heavy industry areas are still more like ghost towns.

Can the companies that once operated there dare to come back, when the Zanu-PF part of government is talking of going forward with the scheme where locals should own 51% of any company operating here?

Who wants to come here only to give up a huge chunk of their shareholding?

Early days

Maybe we need to apply the litmus test after a bit more time.

After all, what administration can truly change the way things were done before in just 100 days?

In six months maybe they will have more to show.

So we will be patient.

Lord knows patience is one thing Zimbabweans have in abundance!