Rodney Cloete

An embassy is an instrument or it is an ornament. It is not a consolation prize.

The local-content policy looks progressive on paper. It is not a document for the base of the pyramid.

Economic diplomacy cannot be measured in Cabinet-approved memoranda. Publish the text, name the owner, show the result.

Drawing on the Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration hearings: borrowing is being driven by wages that no longer cover basics, and a lending law alone cannot fix that.

Argued that thirty-five years after independence Namibia still governs through an inherited adversarial model, and that governance systems should be chosen by the people who live under them.

Shadow-portfolio position reported by The Namibian (6 Aug) and Windhoek Observer (14 Aug). Justice Damaseb’s competence and integrity were expressly not in question; the issue is Namibia’s public silence on rights concerns.

Called on Namport and the Minister of Works and Transport to publish the full evaluation report and written reasons within 14 days, disclose board members’ interests, and explain any return of the project via a development agency rather than open bidding. Syndicated by allAfrica on 12 August.

Called for publication of the agreements, independent security assessment, enforceable controls on citizen data and a rights-respecting Data Protection Act before smart-city systems are implemented.

Set out the SME barriers. Finance, duplicated approvals, standards, infrastructure. That must fall for African trade to become meaningful. Reported by New Era.

Welcomed Namport’s reported decision, connected it to earlier questions on due diligence and procurement, and called for publication of the assessment record, relevant Cabinet decision, authority for cancelling the competitive process, institutional communications and criteria for any future concession.

During the First Ordinary Session of the Seventh Pan-African Parliament, Namibia’s representative contributed to debate on the report presented by Namibia’s Head of Delegation, Hon. Phillipus Katamelo, Chairperson of the Committee on Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution.

Welcomed responsible investment while calling for disclosure of approval conditions, NAMCOR’s obligations and revenue position, the applicable fiscal regime, local-content commitments, environmental safeguards and meaningful parliamentary oversight.

Called for the Mid-Year Diplomatic Briefing presentation, firm legislative timetables, consultation and governance safeguards, publication of July cooperation instruments, and regular reporting to Parliament on foreign-trade policy and international agreements.

On the Namibia Statistics Agency Financial Inclusion Survey: of those borrowing for food, 295,000 earn under N$2,000/month. Household debt to microlenders N$7.2bn; to banks N$124bn. Response to the Kahungu payday debate: people are not waiting for money twice. They are waiting for it to be enough.

Public line: rather Parliament get petroleum oversight right now than write a Commission report after capture has run its course.

On the Pretoria BNC package of 17 July: the headline is “deepening economic cooperation”; the instrument list shows six non-binding texts. Called for binding commitments, not ceremonial MOUs.

Position: accountability starts with answering Opposition written questions in the National Assembly. Not with curated, pre-recorded television that has no start date and no live call-ins.

Public measure of citizenship in an oil state: what we have; who wants it; how capture works; how to stop it; who is watching. And a commitment to be part of the last.

Pressed for full disclosure of the grant’s terms: data ownership, infrastructure control, and procurement. Before foreign-owned technology and surveillance systems are locked in.

Pressed for accountability on TransNamib and Anti-Corruption Commission follow-through; IPC public statement issued the same day.

Notice of Motion invoking Articles 40, 63 and 144: every significant treaty, sovereign-debt instrument and major oil & gas concession to be laid before Parliament before it binds. Same day: NOQ on Government Notice No. 235 suspending Competition Commission conditions on Nasan Energies / Vitol. Both for 3 September 2026.

IPC: “N$40 billion in trade means nothing if Namibia remains a mine and China remains the factory.” Sport-body funding cut condemned while SOE games remain funded. Reuters: energy minister lifts bar for Nasan Energies sourcing fuel from Vitol.

The Beneficial Ownership Registry motion and the EITI-membership motion both stand undisposed on Order Paper No. 60, awaiting debate.

Welcomed Namibia's FATF greylist exit. Then pressed for the BIPA beneficial-ownership register to be opened to the public before the gains erode.

Challenged the High Commission's response to stranded Namibians and demanded a 24-hour emergency consular hotline.

Invoked Article 40(h) of the Constitution to ask when Cabinet last tabled a comprehensive foreign trade policy report before the Assembly.

Demanded answers on the no-tender three-month contract, cited a rejected Namcor discount worth roughly N$114 million a year, and raised a conflict-of-interest concern over the Nasan Energies appeal.

"Stripping consular services from that mission is not a technical reshuffle". On the US embassy decision and its cost to students and bilateral ties.

Co-authored investigation with Desmond Nikanor into board fees as full-time income for a politically connected class.

First-person op-ed on how the PAP rotation rule was won, lost, and restored. The most detailed Namibian account of the Bureau elections.

Served on Namibia's five-member delegation to the 1st Extraordinary Session of the Seventh Legislature as the new continental leadership was elected.

Questions on government's upstream equity stakes, a N$123 million Angolan asset acquisition via foreign entities, and due diligence in the Namport board appointment.

Pressed government on trade-regulatory risks of FATF grey-listing and on the tax burden carried by Namibia's narrow formal-business base.

Official IPC statement on petroleum governance following the oil discussion at State House.

On US interest in Namibian energy and minerals: ensure the outcomes count for Namibians, not just for American supply chains.

Inspected the Ghana-Togo joint border post on free movement, and contributed to the PAP debate on the Model Law on Migration in Africa.

Assessed Ghana's AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative rollout and pressed for ratification of the AU free-movement protocol.

Ministerial travel transparency, Namibian state firearms trafficked to the Western Cape, ambassadorial economic diplomacy, the 500,000-jobs pledge. Plus a formal request that any BRICS decision come before Parliament.

Took the oath in Midrand at the opening of the Fifth Ordinary Session; assigned to the Permanent Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration Matters.

Pressed on the gap between ratification and Namibia's first AfCFTA export (unprocessed salt), and the absence of SMEs from value-added trade.

Tabled contribution to the 2025/26 Appropriation Bill debate, published in the Assembly's official Budget Statements bundle.

Took the oath as an IPC Member of Parliament; served as Chief Whip of the official opposition caucus from 2025 to February 2026.