Analyzing Fatima Bio’s legal Position & Unpacking Contradictions in Her Legal Strategy

Fatima Babih, EdD

Political Stunt or Legal Standing?

Fatima Bio claims that her legal team has “restrained” Octea Holdings from operating internationally, but what legal ground does she stand on? And is this truly a fight for justice, or a political charade to extend her influence and avert attention from her mansions in the Gambia?

Fatima Bio posted on her Facebook page a letter dated May 20, 2025, from the law firm of Tejan-Cole, Yillah & Partners, which is representing her and a supposed group of workers. The letter was sent to the Guernsey Registrar of Companies.

In the letter, her legal team requests that Octea Limited not be struck off the corporate register due to pending legal actions related to alleged human rights abuses at its subsidiary, Koidu Holdings.

Fatima Bio followed her Facebook post with a bold misleading declaration:

They’ve been legally restrained from going bankrupt or shutting down international operations until they fully answer to us.

But what does this really mean?

And more importantly, what legal ground does Fatima Bio have for this lawsuit?

Administrative/Judicial?

Despite her dramatic framing of the submission, Fatima Bio’s team has not obtained a court order, injunction, or judicial restraint. Instead, they’ve issued a letter of objection to the Guernsey Registrar under the guise of a whistleblower policy and pending lawsuits.

This is a preemptive legal maneuver, not a ruling. It merely asks the registrar to keep Octea’s name on file so that it remains a viable legal target for upcoming litigations.

What Law Is Her Legal Team Relying On?

There are no specific laws cited in the letter, but the legal arguments in it rest on:

• Corporate registry procedures in Guernsey which allow for administrative intervention if a company is under investigation or pending litigation.
• Whistleblower protection policies, cited vaguely as a mechanism to alert the registry to corporate misconduct.
• International human rights frameworks, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights, which Guernsey aligns with through its relationship with the UK.

However, these are indirect legal instruments, and none of them establishes Fatima Bio’s standing in such a lawsuit.

Can Fatima Bio Sue Octea?

Here’s where it gets problematic for Fatima Bio and her Legal Team:

• Fatima Bio is not a government official. She holds no constitutional or legal office.
• She has no legal or contractual relationship with Octea Holdings.
• She is the spouse of the President, and therefore indirectly linked to the same government that signed and oversees the mining contract with Koidu Holdings.

This raises critical legal and ethical questions:

• Is Fatima Bio’s lawsuit a personal vendetta, or is she acting on behalf of the government without formal authority?
• If she’s representing the state’s interests, why is the actual government silent?
• If she’s not a government official, what legal standing does she have?

This legal action blurs the lines between personal interest and state power, a troubling mix for any democracy.

Whistleblower? Or Political Opportunist?

The letter frames Fatima Bio and a group of Koidu workers as whistleblowers exposing human rights violations at the mine. But here’s the truth:

• The human rights concerns listed in the letter, poor safety conditions, overwork, lack of water, and exposure to hazardous chemicals, are not new discoveries.
• These issues have been documented by local communities, media, NGOs, and legal activists in Sierra Leone for years.
• Fatima Bio has shown no prior involvement in these issues until now, when political gain appears to be on the line.

So how does Fatima Bio claim whistleblower status?

True whistleblowers uncover wrongdoing from within or bring forward new evidence. In this case, Fatima Bio is neither a worker nor a discoverer of abuse, but a latecomer who has suddenly seized the platform and the narrative.

All the flaws in this letter, from the absence of legal standing to the questionable whistleblower claims to the vague appeals to international law, raise serious concerns about the professional judgment of Fatima Bio’s legal team, Tejan-Cole, Yillah & Partners.

One must ask: Would a truly competent & reputable law firm risk its credibility by signing onto such a flimsy and politically charged document? Or has this become yet another case where legal institutions are being weaponized for political theater rather than truth or justice? If so, it’s not just Octea that’s under scrutiny, but the integrity of the lawyers themselves.

A Cautionary Note

If this legal campaign leads to conflict, as tensions suggest it might, Fatima Bio and her family will be safely shielded by power, protected by the State Lodge’s helicopter pad, and backed by millions of dollars from unknown sources.

But for ordinary citizens caught in the political theatrics, the cost could be instability, job losses, and civil unrest.

Fatima Bio’s fight with Octea/Koidu Holdings is not about justice. It’s not even about the Koidu workers. It’s about narrative control, power consolidation, and political manipulation at a time when Fatima Bio is facing mounting public scrutiny for her massive unexplained wealth in the Gambia.

So, while the legal language may sound righteous, the people of Sierra Leone must ask:

Whose fight is this really?

And what’s the price we’re being asked to pay for this senseless drama?