By Musa Paul Feika
At the State Opening of the Third Session of the Sixth Parliament on Thursday, 7th August, 2025, it was the First Lady, Madam Fatima Maada Bio who stole the show from her husband, President Julius Maada Bio, whose day it is as Head of State, Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Force of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Fountain of Honour delivering his speech from the throne of the Legislature.
Rather, the show was stealthily stolen from him by his wife whose mannerism and apparent disregard of Parliamentary protocols instantly caught the attention of the Opposition Members of Parliament and the general public in the gallery.
It first began with her refusal to join the gallery and the aisles of Parliament to as protocol demands, stand up in respect of the office of the Speaker of Parliament and the second gentleman of the Republic as they were ushered into the Well. Madam Fatima Bio did not bulge but remained seated with legs crossed as her Husband, the President, the Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh and the Speaker Solomon Segepoh Thomas were respectfully greeted by the assemblage when they rose to their feet in a standing ovation to welcome the three constitutionally political figures.
The assertive Madam First Lady did not stop at not that disrespect, she was also noticed having earphones in her ears while her husband the President was delivering his address, apparently thought to be on TikTok at that moment, she was only noticed removing the earphones when the President had concluded his address followed by the tumultuous approval of clapping and desk-banging by Members of Parliament of the President’s ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
By this time, the public had already taken notice of her cavalier behavior and murmurs had started coming up.
She only removed the earphones when President concluding addressing the nation and members of the gallery were grumbling, murmuring and displeased with her behaviour.
Most of those from the ruling party side who took notice of the First Lady’s behavior attributed it to the unexpected chanting of the popular song: ‘U koko rose ooh…how u manage so taay u koko rose’ by All People’s Congress (APC) opposition Members of Parliament as she was ushered to take her seat in the Well of Parliament ahead of the arrival of her husband. She was noticed to have dramatically changed the contours on her face and which according to postulations, may have forced her to stuck the earphones into her ears in order not to hear the chants of the opposition Parliamentarians. It was this acrid reaction that led her to leave her ears stuffed from listening to the very important national message being delivered by her husband, His Excellency the President.
It could be recalled that at the just concluded National Delegates Conference (NDC) of the SLPP, the song: ‘U koko rose ooh…How u manage so taay u koko rose’ appeared as the anthem of the conference spiritedly danced to by the President and Vice President and was even mimed by the outgone National Chairman of the SLPP, Dr. Prince Alex Harding. Many observers of the that SLPP NDC have suggested lately that the song’s sudden officialdom at the NDC was deliberate attempt to tell the First Lady that not everything she wanted to force through in the party was being accepted as was indicated in the Chairmanship election victory of Jimmy Batilo Songa. She is said to have been actively opposing Songa against the majority will of the SLPP delegates and as such, when Jimmy Batilo Songa won by the landslide majority, Dr. Prince Harding took to miming the song as an innuendo.
But citizens are careless about whatever may have happened to her in the course of the internal politics of their political party; but to now come glaringly manifest this form of crude disrespect for the country’s top-most Statesman who happens to be her husband has been considered embarrassing and uncalled for, especially as she is considered as the “Mother of the Nation” who is expected to live above pettiness and in the public eye, to show the highest form of respect for her husband even when she had been given that bloody nose at their party’s NDC.
Meanwhile, Majority Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Hon. Sahr Mathew Nyuma has tabled the President’s speech in Parliament for it to be debated on after when Parliament returns from its recess.