AYV News, May 13, 2025
Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Dr. Fatima Maada Bio has said no amount of blackmail will silence her from defending the dignity of the people of Kono and Sierra Leone.
Dr. Bio said, “Taking pictures of houses and claiming ownership without documentation as proof is poor journalism. No amount of blackmail will shut me up. Pay your workers the salaries due them. Your first attempt is not working. Try harder next time”.
She has challenged OCCRP, which alleged that as First Lady, Dr. Fatima Maada Bio purchased 2.1 million dollars’ worth of properties in The Gambia. She openly challenged them on Saturday, and there has been silence from them for over 24 hours now.
In what has widely been seen as a desperate and cynical effort to deflect attention from its dubious corporate conduct, Octea Limited, the controversial diamond conglomerate operating in Sierra Leone, has issued a hostile legal threat against the country’s First Lady.
The company’s letter, dated 6th May, 2025, is a textbook case of corporate bullying—saturated with unfounded allegations, veiled threats, and a calculated attempt to tarnish the First Lady’s reputation both at home and abroad.
Octea’s approach to dispute resolution, characterised by fear-mongering, legal intimidation, and Western media manipulation, fails to address the real issues at stake: the rights and welfare of Sierra Leonean workers, transparency in the mining sector, and the need for corporate accountability.
According to multiple reports, Octea has engaged international journalists and foreign media platforms in a coordinated effort to discredit Dr Bio—an effort which appears to include the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Socio-political analyst and former Cabinet minister in the now opposition government, Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden said, “H.E. Fatima is a Sierra Leonean, a Gambian, a European and most importantly for this matter, H.E. Fatima is British and her children are all British-born British citizens. They know their rights inside Britain. Fatima is not ripping off her country, Britain. She is entitled to rent from the local authorities and pay rent for such a flat.
“If she were collecting benefits and not paying rent, I wouldunderstand why you are upset. But she is NOT collecting Benefits. Rather, she is paying the full rent she is being charged by the British local authorities and by Law, as the British citizen that she is, nobody can ask her to about that flat, which is her primary residence in Britain, her country. She is a British citizen.
“Fatima chooses to continue to pay rent on the flat and keep it as her primary residence in her country, Britain. According to the British media, that is where she registers to vote as a British. Her 19-year-old daughter also registers to vote from that residence, which has been her home since December 2007, when she was a baby, 18 years ago. It is their 100% RIGHT to do so. There is no moral or criminal lapse in doing so. I don’t see any moral conflict.
“Are you saying, as a British citizen, she should now rent an expensive brand new mansion in Britain just because she is serving as Sierra Leone’s First Lady? Does it make sense to you? According to the media photos published by some credible British newspapers like THE TIMES of London, indeed, Fatima gets all her letters at that flat. So my dear Kamarainba, where do you expect H.E. Fatima to receive herletters? At Buckingham Palace? Let’s be realistic. Fatima is currently 44 years of age. No one knows tomorrow.
“10 years from today, she will be 54 years of age and she will no longer be the First Lady of Sierra Leone but she will still be a British citizen needing somewhere to stay in her country of Britain. 20 years from today, she will be a 64-year-oldBritish citizen. So it makes sense for her to continue to keep her Flat in Britain as her residence there. I see no moral conflict. Once again, Fatima has done no wrong, and she is entitled to rent that place and reside there for the rest of her life, no matter her income or status”.
