Yesterday, in pursuit of a morning cup of coffee (at Freshly Ground – the best), and while negotiating Harare’s rush hour, at least three drivers let me get onto very congested roads making my journey so much easier. Something to think about … give and take is what it’s all about.

It’s always crazy the stuff your ears pick when you are out minding your own business. I watched a guy spend his money on a group of women the other day where the conversation became as explicit as it gets. Consenting adults so what, I mused. Then I heard one of the “ladies” say, “Some of us have been picked up by strangers and we ended up spending the night as far as Gwanda. But why do you men always insist on using condoms? You should go get tested if you are so concerned about Aids. We have had enough of these condoms. We want it raw.” “It” of course being sex.

I was given a jolt, wondering of course if there is any woman who claims prostitution as her way of life who actually has the luxury to make such demands, if there is any man who actually “sees reason” and literally throws caution to the wind.

I wondered if the ladies had themselves bothered to get tested, but because there is never any logic involved in these matters, this is an area where one can afford to impose their demands on others and still afford not to subscribe to the same! I suppose from the age old crap informed by the hypocrisy contained in the aphorism “do as I say and not as I do.”

I pondered how the female legislators who have brought sex to the public domain with such radicalism you would think this was the ultimate elixir for Zimbabwe multi-pronged woes would respond to such chutzpah, which by the way would be same kind the honourable MPs have exhibited.

I pondered on the connect between the government stats we get concerning HIV/Aids prevalence, whether indeed the country is winning the fight with such sex workers mocking clients who insist on condom use.

Of course these musings must not be read as claims that men do not make such demands themselves to forego “safe sex” as sex itself remains a site of struggle, of power and control which researchers note has been complicated by the patriarchy that continues to dominate the dynamics of such things as who decides the use of prophylactics.

I remembered a e-chat I had with a researcher working on HIV/Aids in Zimbabwe who intimated that the stats may indeed dwindle nationally yes, but still find new infections on the up within a given demographic. And the conversation I was listening to seemed to put these issues into perspective.

I asked myself if these ladies could actually make such demands in obvious pursuit of ultimate happiness, why the pleasure principle always has that mysterious proclivity to absent commonsense.

I recalled the words of Mark Twain: “Of all delights of this world man (and woman) cares most for sexual intercourse. He (she) will go any length for it – risk fortune, character, reputation, life itself.” (c.1906)

Regional Magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini sentenced Munyaradzi Gwisai and five other co-accused to 420 hours of community service and $500 fine for conspiring to incite public violence with a view to overthrowing the unity government. In passing the sentence the Magistrate noted that the penalty should not be outrageous much to the relief of the packed courtroom and against the 10-year prison sentence which the state had previously urged for. Immediately after passing the sentence defence lawyer Alec Muchadehama said he was going to appeal against both the conviction and sentence. Armed police quickly stopped the celebrations and members of Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) were arrested for being too vocal in their celebrations.

Munyaradzi Gwisai and the five other activists who were convicted of “conspiracy to commit acts of public violence” on Monday will not serve time in jail.

Today, they were sentenced to a USD 500 fine and two years of prison each – but the first year of the prison sentence was suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour, and the other year was suspended provided each completes 420 hours.

The Magistrate says the court took a compassionate approach. The defence will appeal the conviction and the community service.

In court today the defence for Munyaradzi Gwisai +5 argued for a fine rather than a custodial sentence. The fine can be up to $2,000 each – lawyer argued for $500 each. The prison term can be up to 10 years. The sentence to be handed down tomorrow afternoon.

Since the Magistrate said yesterday, in handing down the guilty verdict, “I see no iota of evidence that any Zimbabwean ever contemplated a Tunisian and Egyptian revolution,” let’s hope reason prevails on him at last, and the convicted six are sentenced only to a fine.

Zimbabwe ISO leader Munyaradzi Gwisai and five other activists have been found guilty by the Zimbabwean government of “inciting public disorder”, after they organised a film showing and discussion at the Labour Centre in Harare about the Egyptian uprising in February last year. The conviction gives the Zimbabwe government a green light to persecute and prosecute ordinary people for watching a film, conversing about current affairs, or discussing events as they unfold in another country.

The ISO activists will be sentenced today and face up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

You may well ask what any of us can do in the face of this authoritarianism. Whilst it may be difficult to show your outrage publicly for fear of reprisal – which is very real – we urge you to continue to inform yourselves about the human rights situation in Zimbabwe and other countries, like Egypt and Syria.

The fact is thousands of Zimbabweans were watching footage of the Egyptian uprising last year. And thousands of Zimbabweans were discussing those events at the office, in their homes and over cold ones in pubs. The majority of people discussing the Arab uprising probably all agreed on one thing: that similar events were unlikely to happen in Zimbabwe. But still we all carried on discussing and arguing. Debate and discourse is a central part of all our lives.

We have a fundamental right to freedom of expression.

Kubatana urges you to use exercise it whenever and wherever you can.

We are all Munyaradzi Gwisai.