State House occupies a prized hilltop location in central Freetown. As befits the official home of the President and First Lady of Sierra Leone, the colonial-era residence includes wide verandas, arched colonnades and ceremonial lawns, embodying – as the official website proudly describes – ‘imperial grandeur’.

Ensuring that foreigners are not put above Brits removes one of the most egregious council housing injustices

Ensuring that foreigners are not put above Brits removes one of the most egregious council housing injustices

You might ask why a lady blessed with such an abode might want a second property in Walworth, South London. But wherever Sierra Leone’s First Lady chooses to spend her time shopping, any sensible country would conclude that she has quite enough moolah to buy own accommodation.

But then we are no longer a sensible country. So it is that Fatima Bio rented a council flat from 2007 until the British press got wind of it in 2025. It took Southwark council’s housing investigations team 12 months to conclude Fatima Bui was indeed Sierra Leone’s First Lady and that she might not need the property when there are 18,000 people on Southwark’s housing waiting list.

Kemi........

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