The relevance of social and economic rights to societal welfare and well-being need not
be overemphasised. The quality of life enjoyed by the citizenry is directly related to the
level of enjoyment of social and economic rights in any particular country. However, the
enjoyment of social and economic rights is, in turn, largely predicated on the manner in
which national resources are managed and directed towards obligations raised by social
and economic rights. It is axiomatic, therefore, to devise a framework that ensures that
managers of public resources operate within an environment where their actions in
relation to the management of national resources are governed by transparency and
accountability.
In the light of the above, this study explores the relationship that exists between the
social trust concept and leadership roles particularly in as far as duty bearer
accountability for social and economic rights is concerned. The study argues that social
trust based devices can be used to enhance duty bearer accountability in relation to
social and economic rights and that such increased duty bearer accountability will
automatically serve to better the welfare of the citizenry. The viability of recognising and
enforcing social trust based accountability mechanisms is highlighted by exploring its
relevance to Malawi and Uganda. The crux of the study is that public functionaries must
always be amenable to censure by the citizenry if diligence is to be infused in the
performance of their duties and the social trust concept offers adept mechanisms for
achieving this.