by Fatima Babih, EdD
Since 2018, Sierra Leone has lived under the influence of a First Lady unlike any before, one who is not ceremonial, but a strategically weaponized political tool, unleashed to say and do what Julius Maada Bio cannot risk saying himself.
Today, Fatima Bio operates in a legal and moral gray zone where accountability is absent, and national stability hangs in the balance.
The Hidden Threats
When I wrote The Unbecoming Mrs. Maada Bio of Sierra Leone: A Case of First Lady Syndrome, I warned that Fatima Bio posed a unique danger to Sierra Leone, not because she is outspoken, but because she is weaponized.
She is the mouthpiece for the messages that Julius Maada Bio, as president, cannot afford to utter openly. She carries the political volatility, delivers the incendiary and incitement commentary, and takes no heat. At the same time, the real culprit, Julius Maada Bio, remains cloaked behind protocol and state silence.
But now the strategy has evolved dangerously.
Wusu Daddidah Jalloh
In a recent interview on Liberty Online TV, Fatima Bio’s official spokesperson, Wusu Daddidah Jalloh, a misguided young man being groomed for corruption, spoke directly on behalf of his boss, Fatima Bio, and declared that,
The ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party is at war with the main opposition party, the All People’s Congress.
This was not a slip of the tongue.
It was a calculated incitement message. The message came from Fatima Bio β passed through Jalloh β rooted in Julius Bio’s political agenda.
Yet when those words triggered a national concern, who was sanctioned?
Not Fatima Bio.
Not Wusu Jalloh.
Not Julius Maada Bio.
The Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) took action only against the SLPP. It fined the SLPP and described Wusu Jalloh as a member of the SLPP not as Fatima Bio’s official spokesperson. Now the SLPP stakeholders are claiming the statement did not come from the party.
This is the power of the gray zone in which Fatima Jabbie Bio operates in Sierra Leone.
The Bio Strategy
Fatima Bio speaks as a political weapon, not an institution.
Her spokesperson repeats her message, but not under official SLPP authority.
Julius Maada Bio acting as president remains silent and shielded.
Institutions like the PPRC and the media remain confused.
How do you punish someone who technically holds no constitutional office, highlighting the legal gaps that allow Fatima Bio’s influence to persist and raising awareness of accountability issues.
How do you sanction words that were politically intended but structurally untraceable?
“Wild Dog on a Leash”
The only fitting analogy for this situation is this: Imagine a man behind a wall holding the leash of a wild dog. When the invincible man wants someone or something attacked, he releases the dog from the leash. The dog barks and attacks. The man remains unseen behind the wall. The public blames the dog, yet cannot hold the animal accountable because it is its nature to attack. And the cycle continues, day in and day out; year in and year out; from 2018 to the present.
In this analogy, the man controlling the leash is Julius Maada Bio; the wild dog unleashed to attack is Fatima Jabbie Bio; the occasional proxy barking comes from her spokesperson Wusu Daddida Jalloh, and the unprotected victims are the people of Sierra Leone, the APC and opposition parties, government institutions, and even the SLPP.
Every time Fatima Bio or her spokesperson makes a reckless or inciting statement, the owner of the leash remains blameless and untouched.
And because Fatima Bio floats between “First Lady,” “private citizen,” and “party influencer,” the State cannot act against her.
She is invisible to the law, yet omnipresent in the country’s political operations.
Real-World Consequences
This situation is not theoretical. Consider Fatima Bio’s:
- Unconstitutional interference in the Octea/Koidu Holdings mining dispute, which led to job losses and deaths.
- Violent involvement in SLPP internal election riggings, openly admitted in her own video.
- Incitement during the 2023 elections resulted in political violence.
- Recent verbal attacks on MPs and the Speaker of Parliament have gone unpunished.
- Constant involvement in donor-funded initiatives, extracting resources without formal oversight.
All done while holding no official executive power through which she could be held accountable.
That is how Fatima Bio’s gray-zone governance has become dangerous for the nation.
Dangerous Political Trend
Fatima Bio has successfully engineered a governance style where:
- She executes decisions like a co-president.
- She speaks like a political general.
- She spends state funds like a State official.
But she is counted as a private citizen.
This is not just unethical. It is structurally unconstitutional, morally reckless, and strategically lethal to democracy.
Why This Must Be Stopped
This pattern, where unofficial figures convey political intent, poses a serious threat to democracy, making citizens feel the need to defend their political space. Fatima Bio’s actions have:
- Destabilized party structures.
- Sabotaged investor confidence.
- Triggered workplace destruction and loss of life.
- Further polarized political and ethnic tensions.
- Degraded women’s leadership credibility through reckless representation.
And Julius Bio’s silence confirms one truth: The leash remains in his hand.
Sierra Leone does not need an unelected attack force masquerading as a First Lady. We need institutional integrity, not just to prevent abuse but to restore faith in our governance system, inspiring citizens to believe change is possible.
We need accountability, not performative power.
We need healing, not reckless provocation.
Fatima Jabbie’s Bio is not just an unbecoming First Lady. She is a weaponized extension of Julius Maada Bio’s unspoken agenda, and the nation is bleeding from the consequences.
Until and unless this gray-zone power structure in Sierra Leone is challenged, every election, every dispute, every dissenting voice could be met with another detached leash and another unleashed attack by Fatima Bio.
Silence is the greatest enabler of this structure. Speaking out begins to dismantle it.
Reference
MAMA SALONE ~ Lioness of the West Coast 