Meet… The First Lady
Fatima Bio leads a double life.
In one life, Fatima rents a council flat in Southwark, a poor part of south London.
As a former student of journalism at the London College of Communication and an aspiring Nollywood actress, Fatima’s apartment matched her lifestyle at the time.
Fatima’s second life began in 2018, when her husband Julius Maada Bio was elected President of Sierra Leone.
Fatima’s property portfolio has – to say the least – grown since then.
Investigative reporting found that Fatima and three of her relatives have spent over $2 million on 10 properties located in Gambia’s version of Beverly Hills.
As Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima has a gleaming public profile. In her spare time, she’s head of “Hands Off Our Girls”, a non-profit campaigning against gender-based violence.
But behind the façade, Fatima has been accused of receiving millions of dollars of government money to finance…well, who knows?
WHY IT MATTERS
Sierra Leone has come a long way since the Civil War ended in 2002.
But it remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Corruption allegations at the highest levels of power undermine the right of Sierra Leoneans to a prosperous future. And they shatter dreams of a democratic future.
THE PAPER TRAIL
2021 – The Africanist Press accused Fatima of receiving millions of dollars of government money to finance the Office of the First Lady, sharing copies of bank statements. But when confronted about these claims by a local journalist, Fatima simply denied it.
2021 – Fatima was accused of spending government funds allocated to her “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign on travel and accommodation for her foreign guests. This time, at least, Fatima could admit that she’d received the money – but claimed it had all been used for “the intended purpose”.
2021 - Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission announced it would investigate serious allegations of corruption involving Fatima. At the heart of the story? The Office of the First Lady and Hands Off Our Girls.
2025 – British newspaper The Times locates Fatima’s council flat in London. Council flats are, of course, intended for the poorest in society, and so rules clearly state that an apartment must be a tenants principal residence. But Fatima didn’t see any issue holding on to her London home as she expanded her property empire in Gambia.
2025 – Citing open source intelligence, OCCPR track down Fatima’s property empire across Gambia. At least Fatima was thoughtful enough to register some of these properties in her relatives’ names.