by Fatima Babih, EdD
Some people grow with power. Fatima Jabbie Bio has only grown worse, in rudeness, corruption, and divisiveness.
Seven years into her tenure as First Lady, she remains exactly what she has always been: uncouth, corrupt, and dangerous. She continues to lie blatantly to the people of Sierra Leone. She continues to loot from the nation’s already-depleted resources. She continues to deliver inciting speeches that divide rather than unite. And worst of all, she continues to talk down to the very citizens she claims to serve.
Lies and Incitement
Her most recent stop on her propaganda tour took her to Kenema City, in eastern Sierra Leone. Gripping the microphone as if it were a weapon, she repeated her familiar script of lies and political manipulation.
She bragged that she was building a new SLPP party office in Kono (the same district where she has ruined the lives of hundred or mine workers); and she promised Kenema residents a party office “even more beautiful.”
Then, in her usual divisive tone, she instructed the people of Kenema to,
make sure Kenema remains “100% SLPP!”
A statement that effectively encourages hostility against opposition supporters in that region and undermines the principles of democracy in the country.
This is not new. It is the same rhetoric she spewed in Kailahun during the 2023 election campaigns, which triggered violent attacks and the burning down of opposition offices by SLPP youth in that region.
Fatima Bio’s demonic words have consequences, and once again, she is pouring gasoline on a political fire in Sierra Leone.
Hunger Meets Arrogance
The most disturbing moment of Fatima Bio’s Kenema speech came when an elderly woman in the crowd gathered the courage to speak to her directly.
Normally, attendees at these events are forced to listen to her and never allowed to speak. The old woman simply said to Fatima Bio that she was hungry. Instead of showing compassion, Fatima Bio responded with mockery and arrogance toward the woman.
With disgust written all over her face at the poor woman’s audacity to speak to her, Fatima Bio said, “I don’t cook…I don’t have any food,” and then added that her husband, Maada Bio, could confirm that she doesn’t know how to cook.
Her response prompted laughter from the audience at the poor woman. Then, with breathtaking cruelty, Fatima Bio declared to her audience that anyone who complains of hunger in Sierra Leone today is a member of the opposition APC.
In that single moment, Fatima Bio not only disrespected and dismissed the poor woman’s pain, she endangered her life by acusing her of being a member of the opposition APC.
Labeling a poor, hungry woman as an “opposition member” at an SLPP event in the party’s stronghold could easily have provoked a mob attack. This is how reckless and dangerous Fatima Bio has been and continues to be: weaponizing words against citizens of Sierra Leone.
Reality Behind the Cameras
Behind the glossy photos, the manufactured and choreographed crowds at her events lies a grim reality. Each time Fatima Bio arrives in a town, SLPP operatives distribute branded T-shirts to poor women and transport them to the event, promising food and an audience with the First Lady.
But once the crowd gathers, people are made to stand for hours without any supply of food or drinks, under the scorching sun, listening to Fatima Bio’s self-praise, lies, and empty promises. Meanwhile, she and her entourage relax in shaded tents, sipping cold drinks and eating snacks, a scene that perfectly captures the deep divide between the ruling elite and the suffering masses of Sierra Leone.
It was in this context that the elderly woman cried out to Fatima Bio for food. Her plea was not merely personal, she was echoing the voices of millions of Sierra Leoneans today struggling to survive under Julius Maada Bio’s Paopa government’s hardship, a regime that has not only failed its people but has abandoned them entirely.
A Nation in Crisis
Every poor family in Sierra Leone today is affected by the drug epidemic gripping the country, which is destroying and claiming the lives of hundreds of young men and women daily. As the Mayor of Freetown recently reported, her office collects dozens of dead bodies, drug victims, from the streets every day.
Yet, instead of fighting this scourge, Maada Bio and his government are allegedly providing a safe haven to notorious drug barons. These drug lords, according to reliable sources, carry Sierra Leonean diplomatic passports.
Also, Maada Bio’s ambassador to neighboring Guinea was declared persona non grata by the Guinean government when cocaine was found in one of his vehicles. To top it all up, Julius Maada Bio’s eldest daughter, Agnes Bio is allegedly in a romantic relationship with Europe’s most wanted drug lord, Jos Leijdekkers, aka “Bolle Jos,” who is allegedly currently living in Sierra Leone and allegedly being protected by State security.
Fatima Bio stages her propaganda events whenever she is in the country, to distract us from the drug issue, as it has allegely become a big source of income for her, the first family and Paopa government officials. She is a national threat in an expensive Brazilian wig. She remains the embodiment of what happens when power meets arrogance and privilege masquerades as leadership.
Before Maada Bio won the presidency in 2018, the couple lived in government housing in the UK. Today, Fatima Bio has forgotten what it means to be poor. Every public appearance she makes turns into an insult to the intelligence of the people and an embarrassment to the office she occupies.
Sierra Leone deserves better. The nation is cursed with a First Lady who fuels division, disrespects the poor she steals from, and undermines democracy in a country already on the list of fragile states.
Fatima Jabbie Bio is not just unbecoming as a First Lady; she is a danger to the nation.
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