13 HH 307-18 HC 4863/18 public accountability whilst in terms of s 62 (2) the information must be required for the exercise or protection of a right. The applicant averred that it required the Provisional Voters Roll in the interests of public accountability in that the respondent had a duty to account to the citizenry on the conduct of electoral issues. The respondent is created by s 238 of the Constitution. Its functions are set out in s 239. It is mandated to account for its operations and activities to Parliament in terms of s 323 of the Constitution. That it is accountable to the citizenry is implied in its listed functions which are of a public nature. In other words, the public can call the respondent to account because what the respondent does in its functions have a bearing on and affects the enjoyment of political rights of citizens as enshrined in s 67 of the Constitution. Public accountability cannot be divorced from transparency. Accountability and openness in matters of public concern lie at the centre of democratic governance. A public entity and indeed a public servant should not be averse to the scrutiny of its, his or her functions by the public who are the beneficiaries of the services offered through the exercise of the given functions. Bureaucracy is old fashioned and must be discarded in a democratic society. The preamble to the Constitution speaks to the recognition by Zimbabwe of the “need to entrench democracy, good, transparent and accountable governance and the rule of law.” Section 3 of the Constitution speaks to founding values and principles on which Zimbabwe is founded. These include an electoral system which inter-alia is based on free, fair and regular elections. A Voter’s Roll is an integral part of any electoral system which is based on universal suffrage and equality of votes. The same section 3, restates the preamble and exhorts all State institutions and agencies of government to exercise good governance informed or punctuated by inter alia, “transparency, justice accountability and responsiveness.” I have considered this application in the light of the facts presented on the papers filed, the arguments proferred by the respondent through its counsel and the various legislative instruments which l cited in the judgment. The respondent accepts that the applicant is an interested party in the voter registration and verification exercises and that the respondent complements the applicant’s work. In fact, the respondent in its letter encouraged the applicant to “scrutinize the Provisional Voters Roll as you wish and hopefully share with us your findings in order for us to make good any issues requiring amendment.” In another breath, however, on being requested for a copy of the same Provisional Voters Roll to enable the applicant to carry out the complementary