by Fatima Babih, EdD
They say a ‘picture is worth a thousand words,’ and this one of Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima Jabbie Bio, says it all. Draped in a sash made of U.S. dollar bills, she smiles proudly as though her corruption were a crown to be worn in public.
Lately, Fatima Bio has been on a global tour, hosting fundraising galas among Sierra Leoneans in Europe and North America. These events are disguised as “community engagements,” but in truth, they are nothing more than money-collecting expeditions. And a handful of Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora are willing to pay, not out of admiration or patriotism, but out of desperation and greed.
Those who attend these galas often do so in the hope that their proximity to Fatima Bio will translate into access to government contracts, jobs, or favors. This has become the currency of Fatima Bio’s influence. However, here’s the problem: many of these contracts are awarded to individuals from the diaspora who lack the necessary capacity to deliver. We’ve seen it repeatedly: diasporans are awarded multimillion-dollar contracts for farming, road construction, or other services, despite having no local base in Sierra Leone to execute them.
It’s a system designed to siphon money from state coffers into Fatima Bio’s and her recruits’ pockets with the help of her equally corrupt husband. At the same time, ordinary Sierra Leoneans continue to sink deeper into poverty and despair.
The Decline of a Nation
In the seven years since Fatima Bio’s husband, Julius Bio, became president, the quality of life in Sierra Leone has plummeted. Inflation is soaring, unemployment continues to rise, a good number of the youth are languishing in drug addiction, and public services have collapsed. Yet, instead of addressing these crises, Fatima Bio is globe-trotting in private jets while protected by highly paid bodyguards, at the expense of the people of Sierra Leone.
The contrast between her actions and the country’s urgent needs is stark and alarming.
With her record as the most corrupt First Lady in Sierra Leone’s history, it is hard to understand who the people are who continue to support her corrupt ways. Are they motivated by patriotism, love for Sierra Leone, or greed and eagerness to gain crumbs from Fatima Bio’s table of stolen loot?
A National Shame
The symbolism of this photo cannot be ignored. It is not simply about one woman’s greed. It is about how corruption has been normalized and celebrated in Sierra Leone’s political culture. A First Lady who should embody dignity and compassion instead parades herself in dollar sashes. At the same time, teachers in Sierra Leone are striking for back payments, children go hungry, schools lack textbooks, and hospitals lack basic medicines.
This is the shame of Sierra Leone with Fatima Jabbie Bio as First Lady, a disgrace that history will not forget.
MAMA SALONE ~ Lioness of the West Coast 