She escaped child marriage ‘to a pervert’. Now she’s a divisive first lady

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. From escaping child marriage 'to an old pervert' to becoming Sierra Leone's first lady44 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleMegha Mohan, Maggie Latham and Alvaro AlvarezBBC World Service, FreetownBBCIt takes Fatima Bio only a moment to respond when we ask what it was like to be an asylum seeker in London. "Better than being married to an old pervert," she says deadpan, before laughing - a reference to her father's plans to marry her off as a teenager. A lot has changed since then.

In the years that followed, she became an actress, then met a man in London when she was interviewing him about influential Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora and married him. He was Julius Bio - and he is now Sierra Leone's president. As the country's first lady, Fatima Bio is seen as a compelling yet divisive figure - some young people see her as a refreshing voice in politics, who speaks up for women and girls, while others say she has overstepped her remit and that she is too vocal and too involved in the running of her husband's party.

The Details

She has been booed and jeered at by MPs and criticised over a video that she shared on her social media channels featuring a notorious drugs dealer, whom she denies knowing. She quickly stops laughing and composes herself to tell us the story that inspired her to champion a law banning child marriage in Sierra Leone, which came into effect in 2024. She was almost a child bride herself.

By the time she turned 13, her father, a diamond miner from Kano district, had arranged her marriage to a man in his 30s, whom she had known as an uncle figure since she was a little girl. "There was no discussion. It was decided," she says.

But just before the wedding, when she turned 16 in 1996, Sierra Leone's civil war caused enough distraction to allow her to escape with the help of relatives and seek asylum in the UK. Fatima Bio landed in London on Christmas Eve at Gatwick Airport wearing a T-shirt, she says, shocked by the cold, but relieved to have the opportunity of a new life. She moved in with a distant relative.

What Experts Say

"England was my amazing grace. I went to England, I got my voice," the first lady adds. "I got my independence, and then I was able to fight for myself.

And now I can fight for as many young people as possible. "Something else she gained in the UK was a council flat in Southwark in central London, a home she still keeps today where her children live. As a form of social housing, council homes are usually cheaper to rent than private accommodation and applicants have to meet certain criteria.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.