by Fatima Babih, EdD
It was truly alarming to come across a dangerously misleading newspaper headline that falsely claims, “First Lady Rescues Koidu Limited Workers.”
This is not a “rescue;” it’s damage control wrapped in deceit and further detriment to the dismissed Koidu workers.
It’s crucial to remember that the First Lady’s own reckless actions and political meddling significantly contributed to the plight of the Koidu workers. These are able-bodied individuals who simply want to work but have been deprived of their jobs not due to company downsizing or an economic crisis, but because of political interference and grandstanding by a First Lady more concerned with making headlines than with the livelihoods and welfare of ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
Story Behind Job Losses
With no authority, a few months ago, Fatima Bio interfered in a labor dispute at Koidu Limited, fueling tensions rather than facilitating meaningful dialogue. She made grand promises to sue the company on behalf of the workers; these promises, like many of her other promises to women and girls in Sierra Leone, have turned to dust. Since Fatima Bio caused the job losses of over nine hundred Koidu workers,
No legal action has been filed.
No jobs have been secured for the laid-off workers.
No justice has been delivered to the workers.
The only thing these workers have received since then is hunger, despair, and now, Fatima Bio’s false rescue through stollen rice handouts wrapped in propaganda.
Further Exploitation
Today, after months of silence and inaction on the Koidu workers’ issue, Fatima Bio conveniently reappears, not with a lawsuit, employment opportunities or real solutions to the Koidu workers’ plight, but with bags of stolen rice and a staged media spectacle to paint herself as a humanitarian.
Sierra Leoneans must not be fooled by newspaper headlines, but must ask,
- From where did Fatima Bio get those bags of rice?
- Is she a rice farmer?
- Does she receive a salary as First Lady to afford this donation?
- Could the rice have come from the missing rice donations made by the Chinese government?
For years, China has donated thousands of metric tons of rice to Sierra Leone, intended to alleviate the ongoing hunger among children in Sierra Leone. Yet, the overwhelming majority of children in Sierra Leone continue to face severe hunger and malnutrition.
Why? Because these donations are not distributed fairly or transparently. Instead, they are hoarded by those in power, such as the First Lady, who use them for photo ops disguised as charity.
Livelihood not A Bag of Rice
The Koidu workers never asked to be turned into beggars waiting for false rescue. They asked for something far more dignified: the right to work and earn a living. This desire for dignity is something we can all relate to and it’s being denied to these workers by the uncouth behavior of Fatima Bio.
Instead of supporting the unemployed Koidu workers in securing stable employment, Fatima Bio has reduced them to recipients of her false charity, parading them as political pawns in her never-ending quest for fame and political gain.
Double Victimization
What we are witnessing is nothing short of double victimization. First, Fatima Bio destroyed the Koidu workers’ livelihoods through her political interference and false promises. The destruction she caused is not just financial; it’s a loss of identity and purpose for the Koidu workers.
Now, she is stripping away their dignity and using them to score cheap political points by donating bags of rice that belong to the nation, not to her as a First Lady.
China Rice Gate Scandal
Fatima Bio’s so-called “rescue” conveniently overlooks the larger scandal that Sierra Leoneans have been aware of for years: the missing rice donations from China.
Just three months ago, on April 3, 2025, the Chinese government donated 27,600 bags of rice, part of its ongoing commitment to support food security in Sierra Leone. This follows years of similar donations, over 10,600 metric tons from the time Julius Bio became president in 2018 to 2024.
Yet somehow, the rice goes missing and never reaching the school children, fishing communities, and other vulnerable communities it is intended to support.
Where is China-donated Rice?
It mysteriously finds its way into private warehouses controlled by government officials and the First Lady, only to be paraded out when it serves her political agenda.
Meanwhile, the people of Kono District and the rest of Sierra Leone are told to clap for a bag of rice. At the same time, their natural resources and future are auctioned off behind closed doors.
Staged newspaper headlines and stollen rice bags must not sway the people of Sierra Leone, and we must demand,
- Complete transparency on how Chinese rice donations are distributed.
- Investigations into the disappearance of previous rice shipments, including the so-called “21 ships” scandal.
- Employment opportunities, not false handouts, for the Koidu workers and others displaced by political interference.
Sierra Leoneans deserve leaders who build opportunities, not a First Lady who creates crises only to pretend to solve them.
Fatima Bio’s actions have left hundreds of families in Kono District scrambling for survival. Reducing proud, hardworking individuals to charity cases is not a solution; it is an insult to their dignity.
The people of Sierra Leone deserve better. We deserve accountability, authentic leadership, and sustainable solutions, not false rescues and propaganda fueled by stolen rice.
MAMA SALONE ~ Lioness of the West Coast 