Bience Gawanas

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Bience Gawanas

Bience Gawanas was born on 16 August 1956 in Windhoek and left Namibia for exile in 1977 after being expelled from the University of Western Cape during the student boycotts. Bience Gawanas was elected for a four year term as the Commisioner for Social Affairs at the African Union’s heads of state summit in Maputo in July 2003. She was re-elected to the post in 2008. As AU Commisioner she deals with issues of health, population, poverty, women, and children, among others.

Before moving to Ethiopia to take up the AU post, Gawanas headed the Office of the Ombudsman, a body set up under Namibia’s constitution to monitor and investigate complaints against corruption and human rights abuses

Bience Gawanas also played a key role in the reform of Namibia’s civil service as a Public Service Commisioner for five years. Gawanas has been a champion of women’s rights in Namibia – being Secretary General of the Namibia National Women’s Organisation Nanawo (1993-1999) and the Chairperson of Women’s Action for Development WAD (2001-2002).

She was admitted as an advocate to the High Court of Namibia in 1993. In 1991 President Sam Nujoma named Gawanas as a member of the Public Service Commission and in 1996 she was appointed as the first woman to head the Ombudsman’s Office.

She holds an Executive MBA from the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, Degree of Utter Barrister, Inns of Court School of Law, UK (1987) and LLB Hons, University of Warwick, UK (1986).

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