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British lawmakers are calling for an official investigation into the tenancy of Sierra Leone’s first lady, Fatima Bio, who recently admitted to keeping a taxpayer-subsidized council flat in south London despite living in a presidential palace in West Africa.
The renewed controversy comes more than a year after a joint investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and The Times revealed that Bio had held onto the two-bedroom apartment in Southwark while simultaneously acquiring millions of dollars in luxury real estate in Gambia.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Bio, a former actress who originally moved into the flat in 2007, confirmed she still holds the lease. However, she defended the arrangement, stating, “I’m paying for my council house myself. I have not committed any crime,” and maintained that her British-citizen children currently live there.
Bio relocated to Sierra Leone in 2018 when her husband, Julius Maada Bio, became president. Under standard UK housing regulations, council homes—designed to provide below-market rents for vulnerable, low-income locals—must serve as the tenant’s primary residence.
Neil Coyle, the Member of Parliament for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, has formally requested that Southwark Council investigate whether residency rules have been broken.
“There are rules about residency which appear to have been broken. If she is not living in the U.K., the property should be available for people living in Southwark,” Coyle said.
“To know someone is living in opulence elsewhere whilst families wait for homes in London is a travesty and must be tackled.”
Southwark currently has more than 18,000 households on its social housing waitlist. Neighbors and visiting reporters have noted that Bio’s apartment often appears unoccupied, with mail frequently seen piling up at the entrance. The issue has sparked further outrage from other prominent politicians.
MP Robert Jenrick recently posted a video filmed directly outside the Southwark property, contrasting Bio’s living situation with the plight of homeless military veterans in the UK capital.
“She doesn’t live here very much ’cause she lives in the presidential palace with its own swimming pool, tennis court, and helipad,” Jenrick said in the video.
“This is obviously completely ridiculous, and at the last count, there were more than 100 military veterans sleeping rough on the streets of our capital city.”
Jenrick advocated for policies that would see Bio evicted so the flat could be reallocated, asserting that military veterans should receive priority for council housing across the country. “This is obviously completely ridiculous… she’s going to get booted out and this council flat will go to a veteran.” He said.
Southwark Council has declined to comment publicly on Bio’s specific tenancy but indicated that it routinely investigates allegations where tenants may be failing to meet occupancy obligations.
Bio has not responded to further requests for comment regarding the property or the separate OCCRP findings regarding her West African real estate portfolio.
