Ian Clarke

Ian Clarke

Ian Clarke is a physician, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and politician in Uganda. He has served as the Mayor of Makindye Division of Kampala from April 2011 - April 2016. He was the Founding Chairman of the Ugandan Healthcare Federation (UHF), and currently is a board member of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU).

He came to Uganda in 1987 and set up Kiwoko Mission Hospital, in 1996 he set up International Medical Centre which has since grown to the organization International Medical Group (IMG), the largest private healthcare organization in Uganda, encompassing a one hundred bed hospital, Medical Insurance Company, a non-profit foundation and a network of 18 primary care clinics.

Ian Clarke is the owner and Executive Chairman of Clarke Group, Ltd. which has interests in education, hospitality and agribusiness. He has had extensive experience in establishing start-up businesses and growing them to a corporate level.

Ian Clarke obtained his medical degree at Queens University Belfast and studied tropical medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He then carried out a Masters degree in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Ian's Cultural Tip

Uganda is a beautiful country with warm friendly people, many of whom speak English, especially in the urban centres, but do not assume that because someone says ‘Yes’ that he has understood you, he may be just trying to be polite.

Memorable Travel Experience

I was part of an expedition which rafted the Nile from source to sea, though I was only travelling the Ugandan part and through South Sudan. I do not consider myself a thrill seeker or an adrenaline freak and was part of this expedition because I am a medical doctor. Over a period of six weeks I got very close to the wildlife of the Nile – mainly hippos. At one point in the very north of Uganda, we were on the Nile when it was dark, when the hippos should have left the water and gone grazing, but they were there to greet us. I must say that I was very glad to make it to dry land safely.

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