Office of the First Lady Clarifies Fatima Bio’s Role in Recent Koidu Holdings Dispute

Wusu Dadidda Jalloh, spokesman for the Office of the First Lady, explained that First Lady Fatima Bio’s involvement in the recent dispute between staff and management at Koidu Holdings was not on behalf of the government, but rather as a concerned Kono District citizen.

“First of all, the First Lady joined her brothers and sisters in Kono some months ago to place their simple demands to Koidu Holdings in relation to the conditions of service to workers,” Wusu Jalloh said. “She was there not as a government official, but as a daughter of the soil, standing with her people in their time of need.”

Jalloh said that the labor dispute between Koidu Holdings and its employees prior to the present administration has never been satisfactorily addressed.

“This is an age-old issue,” he said. “For the first time, we’re seeing the First Lady lending her voice in advocacy for improved welfare and working conditions.”

Wusu Jalloh made it clear that Fatima Bio’s visit to Kono and involvement in disputes were not part of a government plan or mandate. Instead, her participation was fueled by solidarity and sympathy for the fate of other Kono residents.

“This also resonates with the First Lady’s global campaign for Africa to receive a fair share of its God-given natural resources. Sierra Leone is not an exception,”

Jalloh explained, by connecting her home advocacy to her larger international involvement. He also revealed that the First Lady’s involvement was driven partly by personal interaction from Koidu Holdings, which at one point asked her for help in solving the ongoing disagreement.

“She did not impose herself. Koidu Holdings reached out to her for support in achieving a sustainable resolution to the matter,” Jalloh confirmed.

According to him, the First Lady has subsequently met with the company several times in an effort to make long-term improvements in working conditions and company-community ties.

The First Lady’s Office has revealed that her involvement in the Koidu situation is motivated by compassion, patriotic sentiment, and a moral sense of duty, rather than politics or personal gain.