Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Madam Fatima Maada Bio, has filed a high-profile defamation lawsuit against diamond mining giant Koidu Holdings and its affiliates, accusing the company of orchestrating a personal and defamatory attack against her in relation to an ongoing labour dispute at their mining site in Kono District.

The legal action, supported by a formidable legal team of thirteen lawyers, is seeking $50 million in damages.

The lawsuit stems from a letter allegedly issued by Koidu Holdings’ management, in which the company blamed the First Lady for inciting illegal strike actions, causing financial losses, and overstepping her role by intervening in internal labour issues.

The letter further suggested that she had been investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for misuse of public and charity funds and threatened to pursue international sanctions, asset freezes, and travel restrictions against her.

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In a strongly worded response issued through her legal team, Madam Bio has denied all allegations, branding them as “false, malicious, and defamatory.” The lawyers argue that the First Lady’s intervention in the Koidu Holdings workers’ strike was not only lawful but also initiated at the direct request of the company’s top management, who approached her on five separate occasions—four times at her office and once at her residence—seeking help to mediate and resolve the impasse.

“The strike action had commenced long before our client was invited to mediate, and to claim otherwise is a desperate attempt to deflect from your own corporate failures,” the letter from her lawyers states.

“Your management willingly accepted and even began implementing the recommendations she made, including monthly rice distribution and provision of clean drinking water for underground workers.”

Moreover, the First Lady’s legal representatives challenge the legitimacy of the company’s claim that she lacked legal authority to intervene, citing documented evidence of her involvement being solicited by the company itself.

Her legal team also disputes the company’s reference to an ACC investigation, clarifying that the commission has denied any wrongdoing on Madam Bio’s part and instead confirmed that allegations of tax evasion and improper benefits payments by Koidu Holdings are under ongoing criminal investigation.

The First Lady is demanding a formal apology and the payment of $50 million in defamation damages to be deposited into the National Revenue Authority’s account within one week of the notice. Failing this, she has instructed her legal team to commence proceedings both in Sierra Leone and in Guernsey, where the parent company of Koidu Holdings is based.

Additionally, Madam Bio has threatened to escalate the matter internationally by reporting Koidu Holdings to global human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The aim, her lawyers say, is to have diamonds produced by the company declared “products of human rights violations,” which could trigger a damaging international boycott.

“Our client’s image has been subjected to unwarranted national and international disrepute,” her legal team warned, adding that the tone and content of the company’s letter was not only defamatory but “plainly disrespectful and undignified.”

As the legal battle unfolds, the case has drawn widespread public interest, both for its high-stakes nature and the fact that it involves one of the country’s most prominent public figures taking on one of its most powerful mining operators