Who is Dr. Ian Clarke? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, net worth, tribe, relationship with Roberta Clarke, Thomas and Jean Clarke, Sean, Lauren, Chairman of the Uganda Healthcare Federation, founder of International Medical Group, Clarke Group Ltd and International Hospital Kampala (IHK), early life and education of the former mayor of Kampala’s Makindye Division in Uganda.
Dr. Ian Clarke is an Irish doctor, entrepreneur, missionary, farmer, philanthropist and politician residing in Uganda.
He was elected mayor of Kampala’s Makindye Division in 2011 and used his position to work on the division’s roads, drainage channels, and rubbish backlog, all of which improved public health.
Dr. Ian Clarke also served as the Chairman of the Uganda Healthcare Federation until November 2022 when his term ended.
Early Life and Education
Dr. Ian Clarke was born in 1952 to Thomas and Jean Clarke in South Armagh, Northern Ireland.
He is married to Roberta Clarke, his wife who resides with him in Kampala. Sean, their eldest child, is in charge of his father’s approximately 12 clinics in Uganda.
Lauren, their daughter is a nurse and resides in Ireland. Michael, their eldest son, manages the family hotel in Zanzibar.
As a boy, Clarke grew up on a farm in Ireland where he would occasionally do farm work like feeding the chickens, driving the tractor, digging Irish potatoes and taking in the hay.
His father died when he was nine years old and the management of the farm was transferred to him and his mother. This prompted him to narrow down his choice of careers to medicine and farming.
When he passed his ‘A’ levels with good grades and was able to get into medicine, his mother had to sell the farm since none of his siblings was interested in farming.
Dr. Ian Clarke received a Bachelor of Medicine, a Bachelor of Surgery, and a Bachelor of Obstetrics from Queen’s University Belfast in 1976.
He graduated from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in 1987 with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He continued his education in 1994 by obtaining a Master of Science in Public Health from the same institution.
Career and Professional Work Experience
After learning about the AIDS crisis in Uganda, Clarke made the decision to visit Uganda for the first time. He was brought to Kiwoko Village, which is located in Luweero Triangle’s modern Nakaseke District.
The Church Mission Society sponsored his return with his family so that he could work again in Kiwoko after their initial project had ended.
Dr. Ian Clarke initially treated his patients under a tree before founding Kiwoko Hospital.
He thereafter relocated to Kampala and opened his first clinic (International Medical Centre) inside the Watoto Church, a Kampala Pentecostal church, on Buganda Road in the city’s centre.
Dr. Ian Clark founded International Hospital Kampala (IHK) in 2000. The hospital moved to its current location in 2004 after first opening in a smaller space in Old Kampala.
The first open heart surgery in Uganda was performed at IHK. Afterwards, IHK expanded and relocated to Namuwongo, another Kampala suburb where it was left until Clarke finally sold it.
Clarke made his political debut in Uganda when he was nominated as an independent candidate in November 2010 to run as the LC3 chairperson of Makindye Division, one of Kampala Capital City Authority’s five administrative divisions.
In the election, his three main campaign platforms were “excellent roads, good health, and economic progress.” After a historic triumph, he was sworn in as mayor in May 2011 and appointed to a five-year term.
He later contested for a Parliamentary seat but he did not go through.
Dr. Clarke served as chairman of the Uganda Healthcare Federation, which represents the nation’s private healthcare industry and also served as chairman of the East Africa Healthcare Federation, an umbrella organisation that fosters integration and innovation to raise regional health standards.
In 2022, Dr. Ian Clarke was appointed as the chairman of the advisory board of CTI for East Africa due to his vast experience in healthcare, education, agribusiness, and both public and private enterprises for over 30 years in Uganda.
Achievements and Awards
Dr. Ian Clarke is the founder of International Medical Group, Clarke Group Ltd and International Hospital Kampala.
In 2005, Dr. Ian Clarke’s International Hospital Kampala received a silver award for being the first runner-up for the Investor of the Year category.
Clarke has written two books, ‘The Man With The Key Has Gone’ and ‘How Deep Is This Pothole’. He additionally writes a weekly column for New Vision, one of Uganda’s largest newspapers.
Besides Zanzibar, Tanzania, where his family built, owns, and runs a boutique hotel, he also has projects in Juba, South Sudan, and Juba, South Sudan.
Dr. Ian Clarke also founded Kiwoko Hospital in Luwero District which has a nursing school and a lab technology centre.
To shift the paradigm of education in Uganda from a knowledge-based style to the development of critical thinking, Dr. Clarke founded the Clarke Junior School in 2015.
He also established Clarke International University in Kampala in 2008; originally a school of health sciences, it now has a business school and an IT faculty on its brand-new Tank Hill campus.
As a farmer, Dr. Ian Clarke owns land which he has transformed into a hub farm in Fort Portal to provide employment opportunities to the locals and act as a source of good agricultural practices for other farmers.
Controversies
In November 2014, the Buganda Road Court dismissed a criminal complaint against Dr. Ian Clarke.
Kawempe Division Mayor, Mubarak Munyagwa had accused him of impersonating Kampala City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago at a regional mayoral ceremony that was conducted in Kampala.
Dr. Clarke however denied the accusations, claiming that he attended the ceremony as the mayor of Makindye Division because he was the sole mayor from Kampala.
Editor’s Note: Please contact flashugnews@gmail.com if you find any of the content to be inaccurate or outdated.
