25 comprehensive voter education in order to be able to identity the qualities of leaders, and to be able to determine why a person may be the best candidate. The fact that the government has outlawed voter education by civic bodies means it is difficult to monitor what the government is doing. Furthermore, the voter does not have an effective range of choice in the electoral and party system, as there is no open competition of ideas and policies. There is no equal opportunity in the electoral process because of intimidation. For example, in Rusape and Chegutu, the main party candidates for councillor were elected unopposed because the opposition candidates were barred from entering the nomination court. This dissatisfaction in the electoral process amongst the youth is very strong; they want to increase positive participation in elections and the pre-requisites for this participation were presented as follows: · · · Unity (the youth are currently divided along political lines, but they need to have their own position as a group); Wide consultation on the methodology of participation. This refers to the manner in which the youth want to be involved; Content of education material – what should be the contents of voter education. They want access to the Constitution and the Electoral Act, and a layman’s explanation of both. It was generally agreed that it is necessary to lobby for changes to electoral regulations and to ensure that there is information available for youths’ benefit. They have stated that for there to be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, the following must be adhered to: · · · · · · · · · · · · · The youths should lobby for constitutional changes that guarantee an even playing field; Make it a point that the person contesting is from the area they want to be elected; Ensure that polling agents are properly trained; Lobby for independent counters; Ensure that political parties do not impose candidates on their constituencies; Civic bodies should continue conducting voter education and ensure that is a continuous process; Lobby for the ESC to be an independent body; Invite regional and international observers as citizens through lobbying the government; Regional countries and the international world should agree on measures to take against Harare in the case of elections being rigged; Citizens should be educated avoid abuse by politicians; There should be free and equal access to the media, both print and electronic, for all political parties; There must be transparent ballot boxes;. There must be a deliberate move to put a stop to political violence and intimidation. There was a strong view in the group that the current constitution is the cause of all the problems in the country, and that it needs to be reformed in order to accommodate the people’s explicit wishes. The existing constitution should be distributed and explained to the nation, as people are unaware of their rights and obligations. This is a way to ensure that people understand why there are calls for constitutional reform, and this should inspire the people to challenge those in power to change the constitution. In the discussions with the youth it was very clear that they are interested in peace building activities; they are tired of being used at pawns in political games. They stated that they require skills in how to IDASA: Zimbabwe at the Cross-Roads: Views of Zimbabwean citizens on democracy and transitional justice.