Luamanuvao is a lawyer by
profession who has wealth of
experience in the legal
profession both locally and
internationally.
She started her career in
Samoa as a staff solicitor for
the Sapolu and Co. Barristers
and Solicitors from 1988 to
1992, and went on to
become the Principal
A solicitor from 1992 to 2002
for the same law firm.
Luamanuvao has over 15
years of experience with the
Commonwealth Secretariat.
She began as an Adviser and Head of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the
Commonwealth Secretariat in 2002.

For almost two years, she was the Chief Legal Counsel for the Secretariat of the African,
Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group) in Brussels from 2012.
She became Director of the Rule of Law Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat from 2013 –
2017, before she was appointed as the Senior Director for Governance and Peace Directorate
from 2017 to 2019. She has returned to Samoa and is currently the Barrister and Law Director
for PL Strategy Consulting Limited.
Luamanuvao graduated with a Master of Laws (LLM) with Merit specializing in Public
International Law from Queen Mary, the University of London in 2008.
She is an alumnus of the University of Auckland, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws
(LLB) degree in 1986. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the
University of Newcastle, Australia.
She was appointed Notary Public in Samoa in 1988, the same year she was admitted as a
Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Samoa.
Luamanuvao takes on the Ombudsman role from Afioga Maiava Iulai Toma, who is regarded as
one of the longest-serving public servants in Samoa, who had served as Ombudsman for 27
years.