Clodumar, Kinza (1945- )

Nauruan politician, president 1997-98. He was elected executive president by parliament in February 1997, ending several months of political instability that had witnessed three changes of government. As well as president, Clodumar held the finance, public service, and foreign affairs portfolios. He embarked on a programme of wide-ranging economic reform, designed to restructure Nauru's economy following the depletion of its phosphate reserves. However, these measures provoked opposition in parliament and in June 1998 Clodumar was defeated in a no-confidence vote and replaced as president by Bernard Dowiyogo.

Educated in Nauru and Australia, where he studied economics and politics at the Australian National University, Clodumar was first elected to the Nauru parliament in 1971. He remained an MP until 1979, serving as finance minister 1977-78 in Dowiyogo's government. Between 1979 and 1983 Clodumar worked as head of Nauru's development and industry department, but returned to politics as an MP 1984-92 and from 1995, when he became speaker of parliament.