Sierra Leone’s first lady has had Walworth council flat taken away – Southwark News

Sierra Leone’s first lady kept a two-bedroom council flat in Walworth after her husband was elected president, but the property has now been taken back by the council to go to a family ‘genuinely in need’.

Fatima Jabbe-Bio, 45, had lived in the property for more than a decade before relocating to Sierra Leone’s presidential lodge in Freetown after her husband, Julius Maada Bio, became president in 2018.

The Freetown residence is reported to include a swimming pool, tennis court and helipad.

After a year-long investigation by Southwark Council’s Housing Investigations team, the Walworth flat will now be allocated to a one of over 18,000 families on the social housing waiting list.

In an interview with the BBC last month, Jabbe-Bio said the Southwark flat was still used by her children and said: “My children are all British citizens. I’m paying for my council house myself. I have not committed any crime.”

Reginald Popoola, Southwark’s executive member for council homes, said: “We can confirm we have taken possession of a property in Walworth following a 12-month investigation by our Housing Investigations Team. 

“I look forward to bringing this council property back to its original purpose which is to provide a safe and secure home for people with legitimate housing need on the Council’s waiting list. This property will be swiftly allocated to a local family in genuine housing need.”

Jabbe-Bio reportedly moved into the flat in Southwark in 2007 and electoral records show she registered to vote there several times since 2009. She also registered a company at the address in 2008.

It is understood that Jabbe-Bio would only visit the Southwark flat occasionally after moving to Freetown.

Born in Sierra Leone, Jabbe-Bio came to London as an asylum seeker in 1996, aged 16, after escaping an arranged child marriage to a man in his 30s.

She later pursued a career in modelling and acting and appeared in a series of low-budget Nigerian films.

Jabbe-Bio met President Julius Maada Bio in 2012 at a fundraiser for his first presidential run and the pair married a year later.