From escaping child marriage to Sierra Leone's first lady

Fatima Bio escaped an arranged marriage as a teenager and sought asylum in London. She is now Sierra Leone's first lady and has pushed for a law banning child marriage.

It takes Fatima Bio only a moment to respond when asked what it was like to be an asylum seeker in London.

"Better than being married to an old pervert," she says, referring to her father's plans to marry her off as a teenager.

She became an actress in the years that followed. She met Julius Bio in London while interviewing him about influential Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora and later married him. He is now Sierra Leone's president.

As first lady, Fatima Bio is seen as a compelling yet divisive figure. Some young people view her as a refreshing voice in politics who speaks up for women and girls. Others say she has overstepped her role and is too vocal in the running of her husband's party.

She has been booed by MPs and criticised over a video she shared on social media featuring a notorious drug dealer, whom she denies knowing.

She tells the story that inspired her to champion a law banning child marriage in Sierra Leone, which came into effect in 2024. By the time she turned 13, her father, a diamond miner from Kano district, had arranged her marriage to a man in his 30s whom she had known as an uncle figure.

"There was no discussion. It was decided," she says.

Just before the wedding, when she turned 16 in 1996, Sierra Leone's civil war allowed her to escape with the help of relatives and seek asylum in the UK.

Fatima Bio landed in London on Christmas Eve at Gatwick Airport wearing a T-shirt, shocked by the cold but relieved to have the opportunity of a new life. She moved in with a distant relative.

"England was my amazing grace. I went to England, I got my voice," the first lady says. "I got my independence, and then I was able to fight for myself. And now I can fight for as many young people as possible."

She also gained a council flat in Southwark in central London, a home she still keeps today where her children live. The fact that a sitting first lady who lives in a presidential mansion in Freetown retains a tenancy has drawn criticism in both the British and Sierra Leonean press.

With more than 18,000 people on the borough's waiting list for housing, the council's website says that even people in the greatest need can face several years' wait.

"My children are all British citizens," she says. "I'm paying for my council house myself. I have not committed any crime."

Southwark council told the BBC that it does not comment on individual tenancies but carries out regular checks if there is doubt that tenants are meeting the obligations in their tenancy agreement.

The family farm is around an hour's drive from the Presidential Lodge in Freetown, where she usually lives with her husband. Julius Bio, a former soldier, became president in 2018 and was re-elected in 2023.

At the farm, the first lady seems far more at ease than at formal functions. Wearing jeans and an Arsenal football shirt, she takes visitors for a walk to see her animals, including chickens, cattle and goats.

She posts regularly on social media, often dancing and engaging directly with her followers. She addresses taboo topics such as period poverty. Sierra Leone has no national policy guaranteeing free sanitary products in schools.

"Girls were missing at least 80 days of school a year because of menstruation," says Bio. "If you miss 80 days of the school year, it is almost like missing an entire term. They are still not getting the equality they deserve. That's why I regularly visit areas to distribute free sanitary towels."

She was elected head of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development. Many believe she is overstepping a role that is traditionally considered largely ceremonial.

She is an active member of the ruling SLPP party, openly championing favoured politicians and speaking at campaign rallies even when her husband is not present. She has also issued video statements challenging politicians and the Speaker of the Parliament.

During the State Opening of Parliament on 7 August 2025, Fatima Bio was booed by some MPs. Local media reported that they sang a derogatory song about sex workers. She responded by putting on her earphones and listening to music.

The first lady insists that the jeering did not upset her.

"It just shows that not all men are educated," she says. "Not all men believe in women's empowerment and women's equality."

"I have been an activist for far too long to be a calendar wife," she says, explaining she does more than organise the family diary.

"I listen to the people and I bring it to the government. I listen to the government and I take it to the people. So that's how we work."

She wants to refresh the image of her country. At a graduation ceremony at Choithram International School, where she was the keynote speaker, she pointed out that the first girls' high school in sub-Saharan Africa was built in Sierra Leone and described the country as a place marked by religious tolerance.

Like 77% of Sierra Leone's population, Bio is Muslim. Her husband is part of the 21% who are Christian. The couple attend both mosque and church services.

In January 2025, Reuters reported that Jos Leijdekkers, also known as "Chubby Jos", one of Europe's most wanted drug dealers, had allegedly appeared on a video posted on her social media channels. The footage allegedly shows Leijdekkers, 34, standing a few rows behind the first lady and the president at a church service.

Leijdekkers has been sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison by a Rotterdam court for smuggling cocaine into the Netherlands. The BBC has not independently verified the video, which has now been deleted.

When asked how one of Europe's most wanted drug kingpins was able to get close to the first family, she denies knowing him.

"I wouldn't know because I'm not a criminal," she says. "I don't bring people into church. I'm not a Christian. I'm a Muslim. So I don't know who was in that church. You don't talk about what you don't know."

She also denies rumours that Leijdekkers allegedly has a child with her step-daughter, the president's daughter from a former relationship.

"These are all the lies I am not going to validate," she says.

Analysts say that most people in Sierra Leone are more concerned with the daily struggle to make ends meet than with thinking about Leijdekkers. In 2022, protests over the cost of living broke out in Freetown and at least 20 civilians and six police officers were killed.

She refuses to be drawn when asked if her family occupy mansions in The Gambia and how they were paid for.

"I don't have to deny it. I don't have to acknowledge it. When they come out with the proof that what they're saying is the reality, then we'll have a conversation."

Political analysts in Sierra Leone and beyond are wondering if Bio is setting the stage to one day run for president herself, perhaps when her husband's term runs out in 2028 as he is not eligible to run again.

"I'm not hungry to be president," says First Lady Fatima Bio. "It'll have to be the will of God. I'm a very fervent believer that when God wants something, he does it. If it is what God wants, no man can stop it."