Aceng Jane Ruth Ocero

Jane Ruth Aceng (born 11 May 1968) is a Ugandan pediatrician and politician. She was the Minister of Health in the Cabinet of Uganda. She was appointed to that position on 6 June 2016. Before that, from June 2011 until June 2016, she served as the Director General of Medical Services in the Ugandan Ministry of Health. In 2026, she was appointed as the Cabinet Minister of Information, Communications Technology and National Guidance serving in the Twelfth Parliament of Uganda following her election as the Woman Member of Parliament for Lira City in the January 2026 elections.

Early life and education Aceng was born on 11 May 1968 in Atapara village, Oyam District. She attended Shimoni Demonstration Primary School in Kampala, Uganda's capital city. She studied at Nabisunsa Girls Secondary School for both her Ordinary and Advanced Level education. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, a Master of Medicine in Pediatrics, and a Master of Public Health, all from the Makerere University College of Health Sciences. She also holds a Diploma in Health Systems Management awarded by the Galilee International Management Institute, in Israel.

Insight into Aceng's early life: success stories Aceng spent her early childhood days in Lira (formally Lira City) living with her parents and two siblings in a small hut and she joined Amberland Primary School at around five years of age. She went up to primary three but since the father was a teacher, he got transferred to Kampala and Aceng completed her primary in Shimoni Demonstration School where her father enrolled her and other siblings. Aceng's first choice was St.Katherine secondary school but her father denied her the chance and sent her to Nabisunsa Girls’ School where she spent six years.

After sitting her exams, Aceng was the only girl who qualified for a medical course at Makerere University after the release of examinations. in the health ministry. She was an ex-officio member of parliament nominated by the President as the minister.

Aceng served in the Ministry of health even before her election as the woman member of parliament for Lira City. She was appointed by Yoweri Museveni in 2016 and later convinced by her capabilities to contest as the member of parliament in 2021. She was again entrusted back to lead ministership for the next 5 years, 2021 to 2025 after her victory by the election poll cast by the voters of Lira City, where she got 34,054 votes. Aceng later contested and worn her second election alongside her contestant Amongi Betty.

Controversy grew after Aceng's reshuffled ministerial role from Ministry of health to Ministry of information, communication technology and national guidance with Chris Baryomunsi. Aceng served for the ministerial role for only one week and she was later appointed as the government chief whip which was previously led by Justin Kasule Lumumba

Aceng is serving in Uganda's 12th Parliament for the 2026-2030 term, where she represents Lira City as the City woman MP under the National Resistance Movement party. She is also serving as the Government Chief Whip.

Other considerations Aceng is a member of the board of directors of the Infectious Diseases Institute. Before they receive their medical licenses, each doctor has to undergo 12 months of rigorous supervision under a consultant physician or surgeon. The small national healthcare budget leaves the health ministry with insufficient funds to pay the few consultants left, the senior house officers (SHOs) training to become consultants, and the ever-increasing number of interns working so they can get licensed. As a consequence, the ministry of health has been pitted against the SHOs who are not compensated at all and the interns who are poorly and irregularly paid.

As of 2016, perhaps the most controversial of Aceng's proposals is the new requirement that interns take a new national examination, before the health ministry can assign them an internship slot. This has not gone well with the 2016/2017 intern class, prompting a lawsuit that is winding through the legal system.

Research works Admiral Tim Ziemer, Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, and Ugandan Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng at closing press conference of the Global Health Security Agenda Ministerial Meeting Aceng has participated and published widely in the field of medicine and some of her works are outlined below; 2021: The Ugandan Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Model: A Data Driven Approach to Estimate Risk 2020: Estimating the Effect and Cost-Effectiveness of Facemasks in Reducing the Spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Uganda 2020: Family Health Days program contributions in vaccination of unreached and under-immunized children during routine vaccinations in Uganda 2019: Uganda's experience in Ebola virus disease outbreak preparedness, 2018–2019. 2018: Prevalence of protective tetanus antibodies and immunological response following tetanus toxoid vaccination among men seeking medical circumcision services in Uganda 2016: Tetanus Cases After Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention - Eastern and Southern Africa, 2012-2015 2015: Multidistrict outbreak of Marburg virus disease—Uganda, 2012. 2015: Is the glass half full or half empty? A qualitative exploration on treatment practices and perceived barriers to biomedical care for patients with nodding syndrome in post-conflict northern Uganda 2014: Ebola Viral Hemorrhagic Disease Outbreak in West Africa- Lessons from Uganda. 2013: Nodding syndrome in Ugandan children—clinical features, brain imaging and complications: a case series 2005: Rectal artemether versus intravenous quinine for the treatment of cerebral malaria in children in Uganda: randomized clinical trial