by Fatima Babih, EdD
In Part 1, we examined Sierra Leone Fatima Jabbie Bio’s claim that she was already wealthy when she met and married Julius Maada Bio, before he became President of Sierra Leone. She claimed that her wealth came from her footballer ex-husband. Our findings showed that the timeline did not align, the records contradicted her claim, and her council-flat-years exposed it all as fiction.
But the First Lady had a backup explanation: Her brothers’ construction empire in the Gambia.
During her February 9, 2026, interview, one of the hosts asked Fatima Bio,
So, are you debunking the claims about you know the luxury apartments and the excessive um on unknown wealth that people are talking about?
In her response, Fatima Bio made a bold claim:
Now, let me talk about my brothers. Sierra Leone here, we are so proud of um Gento. When we talk about wealthy people in Sierra Leone, you say, “Oh, um Muhammad Gento.” Oh, oh, Alimu jalloh, Alimu Barrie, sorry. Uh um you know, the thing is my brothers are construction people. Majority of all the highways that you see in the Gambia today are built by my brothers. Both of them.
Notice, she said, Majority of all highways that you see in The Gambia today are built by my brothers.
Not “some highways.”
Not “my brothers participated in construction.”
No.
But “MAJORITY of ALL highways in the Gambia.”
This is not a claim of modest participation in the construction sector. Fatima Bio claimed that her brothers dominate the road construction sector in the Gambia. And unlike vague stories about footballer ex-husband’s earnings from over a decade ago, infrastructure dominance is measurable. Highway construction leaves paper trails. Procurement records exist. Contract awards are documented.
So, let’s check the receipts.
What She Claimed
When Fatima Bio says her brothers built “majority of all highways,” she’s making a precise mathematical claim. This means her brothers control more than 50% of highway construction, dominate national procurement awards, have a geographic spread across regions, appear repeatedly in major projects, and command an infrastructure empire in West Africa.
She then compared them to Alimu Sanu Barrie and Mohamed Gento Kamara, the biggest Sierra Leonean contractors whose names are synonymous with nationwide infrastructure dominance in Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
In other words, she is claiming her brothers are among West Africa’s construction giants.
How Highway Contracting Works
Highway construction in The Gambia operates through formal processes overseen by supervising bodies including the Ministry of Transport, Works & Infrastructure (MOTWI) and the National Roads Authority (NRA). Projects are divided into EPC (Engineering, Procurement, construction) lots, which are assigned to named contractors through procurement processes subject to public rules and oversight and documented in public records.
If the Darboe brothers dominate Gambian highway construction, the procurement records would demonstrate this through repeated contract awards, multiple major projects, geographic spread, and sustained presence over time.
Therefore, we must explore what the records actually show.
What the Records Reveal
A Darboe-linked company is listed in the Gambia Public Procurement Authority supplier registry.The Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) “Registered Suppliers” list includes:
- Zen Construction & Trading Ltd
- Contact/owner: “Abdoul Mois Darboe”
- Location: Serrekunda
- Category listed (appears as “Works Only” and also “Construction Only” on different lines/years)
That’s a formal procurement-adjacent record tying Abdoul Mois Darboe’s name to an eligible contracting entity.
What we can verify (with receipts) is that Abdul Mois Darboe is publicly named as a road contractor. In a Feb 12, 2024, report, The Point quotes the Minister’s site visit and explicitly identifies Abdul Mois Darboe as the contractor for Lot 9 road construction in Sanyang, stating that the road is about 4.5 km.
This public procurement record confirms that Abdoul Mois Darboe (Fatima Bio’s half-brother) was awarded Lot 9 of the Sanyang Road project (approximately 4.5 km). Some smaller contracts through his Zen Construction & Trading Ltd.
That’s it. No more. No less. No dominance.
This documentation confirms Mois Darboe’s legitimate participation in highway construction. But participation does not constitute the “majority.” One lot on one road project is not dominance of a nation’s highway network.
Majority is not a vague concept. It is mathematical. If someone built the “majority of all highways,” that would require quantitative dominance, meaning more than 50% of total highway kilometers, more than 50% of major project lots, and more than 50% of procurement spending. It would also require geographic dominance, with a presence spanning multiple regions rather than being confined to just one district or road. Furthermore, it would demand temporal dominance: a consistent presence maintained over years, not merely one or two recent projects.
The Comparison Test
During her interview with AYV, Fatima Bio compared her brothers’ success to contractors like “Gento” and “Alimu Barrie,” she was referencing these prominent contractors as a benchmark of wealth and dominance for her brothers in the Gambia. We will focus here on Alimu Barrie since her brothers’ “dominance” claim is in the Gambia.
The company commonly referred to as PAVIFORT (also as Pavi Fort Road Construction Company / PAVIFORT Group) is publicly associated with Alimu Sanu Barrie, Chairman / Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Corporate profiles and project-related listings identify Barrie as the head of the PAVIFORT / HUTA / Gambisara joint venture involved in major OIC-related road works in The Gambia. He is also publicly associated with Huta Golden Quarry (quarry/material supply operations).
Major OIC Road Contractors in The Gambia include:
- OIC Urban Roads Project (50 km, Greater Banjul Area)
Project Scope: 20 urban roads totaling approximately 50 kilometers
Developed as part of infrastructure upgrades ahead of the OIC Summit
Primary Contractors (by Lot):
Lot 1: PAVIFORT / HUTA / Gambisara (Joint Venture)
- Identified on official OIC project listings
- Major EPC contractor consortium
- Handles a defined package of roads within the 50 km scope
Lot 2: CSE / SSTP / Al Fahd (Joint Venture)
- Listed as second package contractor
- Covers the remaining road segments in the project
These two joint ventures are the primary named contractors for the 50km OIC Urban Roads Project. In our research, we found that these joint ventures have built dozens of major national projects, appear repeatedly across years of records, have geographic footprints spanning entire countries, are nationally recognized for dominance in the sector, and command hundreds of millions in contracts.
That’s what infrastructure empires look like. Now compare the Darboe record: one documented major lot at Sanyang covering 4.5 kilometers, some smaller contracts, limited geographic documentation, minimal national recognition, and no evidence of wealth predating the Julius Maada Bio presidency.
One 4.5 km lot is not equal to an infrastructure empire.
The Timeline Problem
Like her footballer ex-husband’s wealth story, Fatima Bio’s highway construction dominance claim has a fatal timeline issue. Before her husband Julius Bio became president in 2018, there is no evidence of major Darboe highway dominance, no sustained national presence documented, and no record of “majority” control. After Bio became president, however, the Sanyang project lot was awarded, smaller contracts followed, stalled construction projects suddenly resumed, and claims of “majority” dominance emerged.
If Fatima Bio’s Darboe brothers truly dominated The Gambian road construction sector, evidence would exist before 2018. But it doesn’t.
The gap between Fatima Bio’s claim and reality is massive.
Abdoul Mois Darboe’s Story
Looking at the specific brother associated with road construction, as Fatima Bio referenced, Abdoul Mois Darboe was interviewed by OCCRP and claimed that Zen Construction funds everything, including Fatima Bio’s real estate wealth in the Gambia. He stated he had been working on a hotel since 2014, insisted everything was “self-funded” from construction revenue, and denied having any Sierra Leone projects.
However, according to OCCRP, the records tell a different story. Tax records show only $300 total in income tax paid between 2015 and 2016, with no documented taxable profits from Zen Construction. The hotel construction stalled in 2014 and didn’t resume until 2019, notably after Bio assumed the presidency. Meanwhile, recent luxury purchases include a $500,000 penthouse in 2024 and $150,000 in apartments that same year.
Her Claim Fails Every Verification Test
If Abdoul Mois Daboe’s Zen Construction generates enough revenue to fund a 70-room hotel, purchase $650,000 in luxury properties in 2024 alone, and build the “majority of all highways,” why do tax records show almost no income tax paid? The answer is either the company is not generating the claimed revenue, or it is evading taxes on massive income. Neither scenario supports Fatima Bio and her brothers’ “self-made empire” story without providing any documentation, just a lofty claim that “My brothers built majority of all highways.”
Fatima Bio offered two wealth explanations, and both failed verification. Her first explanation pointed to her footballer ex-husband, but his career was not as lucrative as she claimed and it ended in 2012, while her Gambian properties were acquired between 2020 and 2024. She was living in a council flat from 2016 to 2018 before her husband became president. The timeline fails verification.
Her second explanation centered on her highway construction brothers in the Gambia. She claimed they “built majority of highways” to explain her sudden wealth exposed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). However, procurement records in the Gambia tell a different story. The records show only limited participation of the Darboe brothers in the road construction sector. Tax records reveal minimal income for her brother’s company, there’s no evidence of pre-2018 dominance, and this explanation also fails verification.
Both claims share fatal flaws: no documentation provided, timelines that point to wealth accumulating after Julius Bio took power, evidence that contradicts the claims, and rhetoric substituting for records.
Fatima Bio claimed her brothers built “majority of all highways in the Gambia” to explain her sudden wealth exposed by OCCRP. However, procurement records in the Gambia tell a different story.
Like the footballer story, this explanation can’t account for the timeline, lacks documentation, contradicts the evidence, and points to wealth accumulated after Bio took power. “Just believe what I am saying” does not work for “majority” mathematical claim about public contracts.
Claims about public contracts can be verified. We verified them. They don’t hold up.
References
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