[8 mars] Commandante Awa Guèye : La médecin légiste devenue pionnière des enquêtes d'élite
On this March 8, 2026, International Women's Day, Seneweb highlights an extraordinary destiny: that of Commander Awa Guèye, the first woman in Senegal's history to have taken command of a Research Section of the National Gendarmerie. A title she still holds alone to this day.
From university benches to the gendarme's uniform
Before joining the ranks of the national gendarmerie, Awa Guèye pursued an outstanding academic path. After obtaining her baccalaureate, she enrolled at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD), where she earned a doctorate in medicine and then specialized in forensic medicine. This rare scientific training would later forge her into a particularly formidable investigator.
In 2011, the young doctor made a decisive turning point in her professional life by joining the National Gendarmerie. After two years of intensive training, she graduated in 2013 with the rank of second lieutenant. Her rigor and skills then earned her top honors at the Gendarmerie Officers' Training Course, which she attended from 2014 to 2015, confirming a promising career path.
Six years at the heart of an elite unit
In 2013, she was assigned as an assistant officer to the Mbour Gendarmerie Company, a position she held until 2014 before joining the Application Course. From 2015 onwards, the most formative chapter of her career began: she joined the Colobane Research Section (SR), a unit specializing in complex judicial investigations.
For six years, until 2021, she methodically climbed every rung of the ladder. She successively held the positions of head of the general affairs group, head of the economic and financial crime group, head of the anti-drug group, and finally, deputy officer in the Dakar Research Section. A remarkable progression praised by her classmates interviewed by Seneweb.
In terms of ranks, her advancement follows the same rhythm: second lieutenant in 2013, lieutenant in 2014, captain in 2019, and squadron leader (the rank of commander) since 2024.
From Company Command to History
In 2021, Awa Guèye left Colobane to take command of the Mbour Gendarmerie Company, which she led until 2023. She then went on to command the Thiès Gendarmerie Company from 2023 to 2024, two field responsibilities which demonstrate her full capacity to lead large operational units.
October 17, 2025: History is written in Kaolack
October 17, 2025 will remain a historic date for the Senegalese National Gendarmerie. On that day, in the presence of the Minister of the Armed Forces, General Birame Diop, Major General Martin Faye, High Commander of the Gendarmerie and Director of Military Justice, as well as the Governor of the Kaolack region, Mouhamadou Moctar Watt, Commander Awa Guèye officially took up the duties of head of the Saloum Research Section, under the command of the Kaolack Legion led by Colonel Alexandre Ndiouma Dione.
She thus became the first woman in Senegalese history to command a Research Section of the national gendarmerie. And, to this day, she remains the only one.
"The unique aspect is that, for the first time, a woman is in charge of a research section. This demonstrates that the gendarmerie has understood that men and women have equal dignity," declared General Birame Diop, Minister of the Armed Forces, on October 17, 2025, during the inauguration of the Kaolack Research Section.
A profile perfectly suited for elite investigations
Beyond the symbolic aspect, Commander Awa Guèye possesses a profile that combines scientific expertise and operational skills. Holding a doctorate in medicine and a specialization in forensic medicine, she also has degrees in gender studies and in economic and financial crime, two areas central to the missions of a Research Section.
His medical training gives him a rigorous approach to scientific evidence in judicial investigations, a rare quality among gendarmerie officers.
A pioneer who is paving the way
The career path of Commander Awa Guèye raises the entire question of the place of women in Senegalese security institutions. The first to break this glass ceiling within the elite units of the gendarmerie, she is paving the way for others to follow in the future. While she remains the only one to date, her example proves that access to the highest operational responsibilities is now possible for women in uniform in Senegal.
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