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36 years ago, Dr Ian Clarke came to Uganda from Ireland, under the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and his boss was the Bishop of Namirembe Diocese, Misaeri Kauma (RIP) because then present-day Luweero Diocese was still part of it.
At one point, while in Luweero, they had a pastoral visit from the Bishop and his entourage. Then, they stayed in part of an old farmhouse. It was he who said that the Clarkes needed to have a Ugandan name. “Thumbing through his little book, he said I would be Luke Busuulwa, the physician from the Kobe clan and Robbie would be Nakito from the spotted monkey. Sadly, he passed away,” Dr Ian narrated to Jacqueline Asiimwe, the CEO of CivSource Africa.
CivLegacy Foundation, a nonprofit arm of CivSource Africa, an independent advisory organisation that seeks to refine the practice and footprint of philanthropy in Africa, is through its Mopane Leadership Programme running a Change-Ready Programme. The Change-Ready Programme is a Leadership Transition and Succession initiative, through which it supports leaders and organisations that are going through transition and succession moments. To foster best practices, the CivLegacy Foundation through its #FootprintsPodcast is sharing the experiences of leaders and elders who have been there; leaders who have travelled this journey of succession and transition and are now in a new season of their life.
The #FootprintsPodcast seeks to glean wisdom and best practices from these journeys of succession and transition, learning from their fears, hopes and triumphs as well as their preparation or lack of.
Click here for the Podcast: https://youtu.be/V76aHXfrwqo?si=6V0Da1tI_ZEF7712
The Genesis
Dr Ian’s life started in Northern Ireland, where he studied medicine and then became a general practitioner, practising family medicine because of his love for biological sciences. However, his childhood was cradled in farming having grown up on a farm.
“Of the two, I inclined greatly to medicine, without which, I would still be in Ireland. It was then that I heard about how HIV was ravaging Uganda. As a doctor, it was shocking to hear of a disease where people lost their immunity and died from all sorts of opportunistic infections. After that, at 26 years, in 1987, I visited Uganda, with a church group. It was my first and the sights were shocking because Ugandans were only coming out of the war,” he says.
Then, everything was broken down, including roads, and health facilities.
Coming to Rubaga Hospital, Dr Ian worked with Stephen Watiti.
Dr. Watiti was a medical officer, at Rubaga Hospital, Kampala from 1985-1988. He thereafter practised medicine privately from 1988-2004 at Entebbe Road clinic and JOY Medical Centre Ndeeba, Kampala. Since 2004, he has been worked at Mildmay Uganda, a leading HIV and AIDS service organisation. He is an HIV activist and ardent advocate for improved and sustainable health for all. He has published two books on HIV: “HIV and AIDS: 100 Commonly Asked Questions” and “Conquering HIV and AIDS: My personal experience of living with HIV”.
“I was in awe of what Stephen was doing with the limited facilities availed to him at the hospital. It was he who took us to Luweero and the place was littered with loads of skulls and bones. While some were scattered, others were sort of collected and put on like a vegetable stand. I remember one place where they had cabbages on one stand and skulls on the next. It was a bit macabre. The atmosphere also encompassed the people who were also very depressed,” he recalls.
Luweero calls
The sights of HIV and TB were too much to walk away from, eating a portion of Dr Ian’s heart that he suggested they return to Luweero. Thankfully, they got sponsorship from the Church Mission Society of Ireland which worked at Mengo Hospital then.
Initially, the consignment, which was traced back to the Irish government, was meant to last for two years. However, it soon became six as they got involved in starting a clinic, which became a hospital.
“With so many patients, we became the epicentre of HIV at that time. Sadly, we lost not only many patients but also staff, colleagues, and friends to HIV. It was terrible. Then, I got cancer, which necessitated returning home (Ireland) for treatment,” he says.
New beginnings
His recovery was a joy for him, his immediate family and those at the hospital, who prayed for his recovery. Dr Ian later did a Master’s degree in Public Health in London and returned to Uganda to start another clinic.
During that time, he worked with The Surgery, which was attached to the British Health Commission. However, being more of an expatriate practice, his time was short-lived as it did not suit what he was accustomed to.
Dr Ian then started his practice in the Kampala Pentecostal Church building, the beginning of many more clinics, a small hospital in Old Kampala and then the purpose-built International Hospital Kampala (IHK) Namuwongo, Kampala and eventually the International Medical Group (IMG).
By July 2015 when Mauritius-based CIEL Healthcare Limited (CHL) acquired a majority stake in IMG, it had a 115 operational bed capacity IHK, 17 primary care clinics across Uganda under the International Medical Care (IMC) brands, as well as a health insurance under IAA Healthcare brand.
“That journey was 25 years but after a few years on that chair, I thought it was time to transition. That is why, about eight years ago, I sold most of my shares in the hospital. During that time, I also started International Health Science University, which, when we de-linked it from the hospital, became Clarke International University,” he says.
In the last eight years, more diversification has come along such as starting Clarke Junior School and Clarke Farm.
Health Education
In all this, Dr Ian says education has been a very interesting thing for him. That stemmed from the health sector where he met Ms Rose Nanyonga who started the nursing school that developed into the university.
“The need was to get expertise in nursing and when Rose did her PhD at the University of London, she returned as the university Vice-Chancellor. While the hand was particularly in health sciences, we’re trying to broaden it now to embrace IT business and more,” he says.
Inspiring generations
Dr Ian’s son, Sean started his education at Turi, in Kenya until his O-level and later UK for his A-level. He later did microbiology at university and a postgraduate teaching diploma. After getting married, he and his wife taught in the Druze Mountains in Lebanon and later in Bristol.
“He later returned to Uganda and joined me in the hospital operations. He later did an MBA, widening his experience in education. With that, he pioneered the primary school, which we hope will birth more branches,” he says.
In primary education, the drive us to inquire, discover, and learn while the university delves into innovating and leading.
“We’re looking at education, not so much as a didactic discipline, where you just repeat what you are taught. Rather, it is teaching, at all levels, to be lifelong learners. Additionally, at university, it is about it being a values-based university,” he says.
Values
You are the society you were raised in, and while you are not going to be holier than thou, Dr Ian says many things will become better when we are honest and have some integrity. He says Ugandans have great potential if only they did things properly, didn’t cut corners, and were not negatively influenced.
Q&A: Paul Ssali, Country Managing Partner, Deloitte Uganda, on his rise to the top and staying sane in the fast and dynamic lane “While Uganda is a beautiful country, that beauty is nothing without the people and their values. Therefore, don’t say that the end justifies the means. Just do it properly. Therefore, our goal is to have at least the influence where people are not just about what they have earned and know but what they do. Those are some of the reasons why we’ve been in education,” he says.
Dr Ian, the leader
He describes himself as one who is highly motivated by positively impacting society, which is evidenced by the businesses he engages in.
“Impact is key in my business ventures. For instance, with 70% of Ugandans in agriculture, agribusiness makes impact sense,” he says.
Drawing encouragement from his friend, Bishop Zac Niringiye, Dr Ian is sold out to create positive change in society not with white superiority but by integrating and being the change he wants to see.
“I have purpose and purposefulness in the things I do in Uganda, which is a lot more than I had in Ireland where my job was routine. Uganda has given me purpose, been welcoming and I can’t get over the lack of racism and over time, Uganda has become my home,” he says.
Tough moments
Looking back at the times when they lost patients in Luweero at the charitable hospital, there were so many moments when he wondered what wrong he had done or where God was in all this.
“We were at the height of the HIV epidemic and saw people die like flies. It was a very painful time and very emotionally traumatic,” he says.
He then remembers basing on the support built as mayor of Makindye to stand for Member of Parliament only to be defeated.
“That was a failure but learned that I wouldn’t go any further in politics because it was about party politics and I wasn’t about to join any party,” he says.
Proud moments
Nonetheless, Dr Ian looks back at his time as a mayor with pride because he managed to fix the drainage channels, the garbage and the potholes.
“I did public health so it was more of that in play rather than political things. Ugandans have a funny idea about politics where it is about critiquing other parties. That is what I see with Mayor Lukwago who has been here for about 15 years but does not think that it is his job to ensure his people get services to. Rather, he points to the Executive Director,” he says.
He remembers moments when he loaned his truck for rubbish collection, when he interacted with the technical people, such as engineers, and directed traffic in instances of works-induced traffic disruption. His philosophy was while there are no resources to construct a road, the day can be saved by fixing the potholes. More like using what is available to improve the city.
“Not much was ever happening in Makindye. I remember talking to an engineer at City Hall about the need to fix our road and all I got was that it needs sectional repairs and more. In short, I did not get any help. At that time, I had a 10-tonne truck alongside five 3-5 tonne trucks from KCCA with which I went, every once a week to this place for hot mix tarmac and with it fixed the potholes,” he says.
His mantra was always, ‘Do the work’.
High moments
“I am always happy when I get feedback. So, Hannah, Rachel Magola’s sister worked for me, becoming part of the team in the hospital’s early stages. She was straight out of college and she went on to work for the Bank of Uganda, East African Development Bank and now works for Mastercard in Kigali. She is a very high achiever and she once told me that she learned a lot while working for me,” he says.
Dr Marianne Calman is another lady who now runs a big TB program in the Philippines. She and others always return to appreciate Dr Ian for the lessons learned while working for him.
Transitions
Dr Ian says life is in seasons and he has had several transitions but he has no interest in retiring. In all this, intentionality has been a constant.
“I was intentional in transitioning from the comforts of Northern Ireland to Luweero Triangle and I sort of imposed it on my family as well because they came with me. While the children simply flowed with it, it was tough for my wife. Thankfully, she got through,” he says.
After recovering from cancer, it took intentionality to return because there was no telling how his health would turn out. “With a high demand for general practitioners in England, it was easier to go there than return to Uganda. Then even with a job at The Surgery, I chose to step out of my comfort zone,” he says.
Selling his majority shareholding at the hospital was the most recent transition and Dr Ian had analysed then that he was a developmental (impactful) entrepreneur hence moving to agriculture.
“The big precondition for me was to get land where I wasn’t going to argue with squatters. It was a nice piece of land with rolling hills but undeveloped. I started with growing maize but learned soon that maize and hills do not mix. That was when I ventured into coffee, which is doing well. Currently, at 800 acres, the hope is to have 1,000s of acres of coffee,” he says.
With family in Ireland; his daughter and her family, and a granddaughter in boarding school in South Africa, Dr Ian looks forward to travelling. That will be a good diversion from being holed up at the farm. “We also have a boutique hotel in Zanzibar. It gets better that I can also run business virtually,” he says.
Dr Ian is also an accomplished author who has published ‘The Man with the Key Has Gone’, and ‘How Deep Is This Pothole?’ “Each has had its target audience but the one I want to work on will cover politics and farming. These may be three so that it is not too long,” he says.
Advice
For any leader looking to transition, Dr Ian says you must decide who you are and your sense of purpose. That will save you from doing projects halfway or doing things haphazardly.
“Understand your purpose, be intentional and take advice, more so financial management as not many people have a retirement package,” he wraps up.