APC politician, Sylvia Blyden, posted on her Facebook page, publicly defending First Lady Fatima Bio on her continued occupancy of a council flat in the United Kingdom which has sparked debate among people.
The post she made on her official Facebook page addressed to Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray, directly go against criticisms regarding Fatima Maada Bio’s flat in London -criticisms that have spread widely both online and in some media outlets.
“I see your views on Fatima (a British citizen) and her Council Flat she is renting in Britain (her home country). I disagree with your view,” Blyden wrote, before outlining a detailed and an impassioned defense of the First Lady’s rights under British law.
Blyden posted that Fatima Bio, despite her current role as First Lady in Sierra Leone, is also a British citizen who has legally maintained her primary residence in the UK for nearly two decades. The said flat has been her registered address since 2007 and remains the family’s voting address, a right she and her daughter, also a British citizen, continue to exercise.
“H.E. Fatima is not ripping off her country, Britain,” she wrote. “She is entitled to rent from the local authorities and pay rent for such a flat. If she was collecting Benefits and not paying rent, I would understand why you are upset. But she is not collecting Benefits.”
The public debate came about when some British media outlets, like The Times of London, made reports about the First Lady concerning the flat she was residing in abroad. Blyden posted that paying full rent for a flat does not violate any legal or ethical standard especially not for a British citizen.
“There is no moral or criminal lapse in doing so,” she insisted. “No one knows tomorrow. Ten years from today, 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.”
Dr. Blyden praised First Lady Fatima for being a smart, and hardworking woman who is also humble despite her achievements.
“She is smart enough to work hard and invest well,” Blyden said. “She is a success today but is humble about her real estate achievements.”
She ended by advising Mansaray and others to pay attention on more pressing issues in the country especially the plight of workers in Kono’s diamond mines, which she said was the real issue at the heart of the controversy.
“You were born in Kono,” she posted. “So join the line to fight for justice for Kono Diamond Mine Workers. Don’t be distracted by fluff.”
The First Lady herself reacted to news linking her to the London property and several other properties in the Gambian as distraction to her advocacy work for the rights of mine workers in the district of Kono.