Uganda, March 27 -- A salaries commission would bring parity and rationality to pay for civil servants and other public officers.

While it can hardly be described as meticulous and patient work, the government's move to impress upon its workers the merits of physical activity deserves critical praise.

Ms Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye, the head of public service and secretary to cabinet, wants a two-hour weekly physical exercise session to be shoe-horned into the workweek schedule of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). Which is just as well.

If the request however feels like a knee-jerk reaction, it is because the latest Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) report spotlighted numbers that are not quite parade worthy. The fact tha...