'Neile Alina 'Mantoa Fanana

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Neile Alina 'Mantoa Fanana, born in 1945, is a Lesotho lawyer and educator. She earned a BA in law from the National University of Lesotho in 1980 and later received an LLB and an MPhil from the University of Edinburgh. She taught at the National University, focusing on human rights law, international humanitarian law, and conflict resolution. In 1989 she spoke at a regional legal seminar about how inheritance law affects women.

After democracy returned to Lesotho in 1993, Fanana worked with the Ministry of Justice to improve administration and fight corruption. She helped push laws to protect women and children and to curb money laundering. She was made a King's Counsel in 2009. By 2010 she was dean and pro-vice chancellor of the National University. She wrote for the Lesotho Law Journal on human rights, women's rights, and legal dualism. On 14 October 2010, King Letsie III appointed her as ombudsman of Lesotho, making her the first woman to hold the role. She began her four-year term on 30 November 2010, with the job of investigating complaints from citizens about government actions or agencies.