When Loyalty is Repaid with Betrayal: The Old Man and the Fatima Maada Bio Story
Guest Contributor In politics, loyalty is not just a virtue — it’s a currency. And if there’s one person in Sierra Leone’s recent political history who has paid that price in full, it’s Her Excellency Fatima Jabbie Maada Bio.
When Madam Fatima first set foot in Sierra Leone’s political arena, her first mission was bold and steadfast: to make him the Chairman and Leader of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). She believed — perhaps more than anyone else — in his capacity to stand as a genuine comrade in the fight for her husband’s political vision.
It wasn’t a convenient friendship. It was conviction. While others surrounded President Julius Maada Bio, Fatima’s trust in the old man was almost divine — the kind of trust that makes you put your reputation, networks, and personal peace on the line. Stepping on many toes, making enemies without personal malice, she secured victory for him when it seemed impossible.
2021: The Second Rescue Mission
Fast forward to 2021. The old man’s political stock had fallen so low that even President Bio himself had given up hope. Many abandoned him. But not Fatima. Once again, against all odds, she fought his battle as if it were her own. The result? A resounding and unexpected victory — proof that her loyalty was not seasonal but steadfast.
2025: The Mask Falls Off
Today, in 2025, the script has changed — and not in her favour. With the old man now seeking to manipulate the party’s internal process to determine who becomes the next SLPP flagbearer, Fatima acted decisively. She blocked the attempt, ensuring that the lower-level preliminaries remained free from self-centered control.
This single act of safeguarding party democracy peeled back the mask. The man she had defended through fire and water is now aligned with those who once led murderous protests against him. His invisible hand is now behind some of the most humiliating moves against the very woman who once lived a political life for his ambition.
The True Test of Friendship
The irony is as bitter as it is painful. Fatima may be strong, but she could hardly have anticipated such betrayal from him. This episode brings to life the old truth: “The genuineness of friendship is not tested in comfort, but in storms.”
If Fatima survives this political tempest — and she is no stranger to storms — perhaps she must look back to 2017 to the real friends she left behind. Many of them fought beside her to make the old man chairman and leader. When they later withdrew their support for him, she misread it as betrayal. In hindsight, it may have been foresight.
When the Knife Comes from Behind
In politics, opponents can be forgiven for fighting you. But when the knife comes from a friend you made, defended, and crowned — it cuts deeper.
If anyone in the SLPP should wage war against Fatima Maada Bio, it should be anyone but Prince Harding.
Whi wrote this piece??.. this is well articulated… can I know the contributor please.
A dog is loyal to the man who feeds it. ( old adage) Today a dog is loyal to the neighbor who feeds it when he has rotten food. In Sierra Leone ungratefulness is a common practice amongst deprived people. First Lady is a Muslim and secondly we as Muslim don’t bear grudges. I know how she is feeling but let Allah handle this issue please. Wisdom is very high for a fool.
Really this is true a wisdom is high for a fool
No one else other than Prince Harding
Prince Harding didn’t control the out of the elections. Fatima was bragging around that she was going to win the landslide but to her amazement, she was hit right in her head. The SLPP party and Prince Harding have paid Fatima Bio and her husband, so they should give a chance to others to express their political potential. We are not living in a monarchical system wherein the president will pass power to his relatives.
But sierra leone is not a family property it is not going to be after the husband then the wife NO Sierra Leone is not the property of Bio family not possible ok
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