FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, May 13, 2025– The legal battle between Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, and Octea Limited, the parent company of Koidu Holdings, has escalated dramatically, with the First Lady’s legal team issuing a formal response to Octea’s legal threat and demanding $50 million in damages for defamation.
A legal response dated May 13, 2025, and endorsed by a team of 13 senior lawyers, representing Sierra Leone’s First Lady categorically rejected all allegations levied against her by Octea Limited. The letter accuses the company of orchestrating a calculated smear campaign disguised as a corporate complaint, following Octea’s May 6 notice, which claimed that the First Lady’s alleged incitement, defamation, and interference were directly responsible for the suspension of operations at Koidu Holdings’ mine and the company’s reported financial losses.
According to the First Lady’s legal team, Octea’s claims are not only “false and malicious,” but also legally unsustainable. They described the company’s conduct, including circulating the letter on social media before official service, as deliberately calculated to incite public disaffection and international ridicule against Dr. Bio.
The dispute stems from a labour protest that erupted in early March 2025 at the Koidu Diamond Mine in Kono District. Workers downed tools over allegations of unfair pay, unsafe conditions, and wrongful dismissals. On March 6, First Lady Fatima Bio visited the striking workers, denouncing the company’s alleged exploitation and promising to escalate their concerns to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Octea subsequently suspended all operations at the mine, placing it into a care-and-maintenance phase and accusing the First Lady of unlawfully inciting an illegal strike, intimidating company personnel, and making defamatory statements that damaged its international standing. The company, which claims to have lost over $16 million, is seeking legal redress both in Sierra Leone and abroad.
However, in their May 13 response, the First Lady’s legal team painted a very different picture. They claim that senior management of Koidu Holdings and Octea had approached Dr. Bio as early as July 2024 to mediate the labour crisis, and that she agreed to intervene only after conducting her own fact-finding mission.
The lawyers provided documentation of at least five meetings between Octea representatives and the First Lady, including discussions about employee welfare, labour standards, and company compliance with contractual obligations. According to them, the company even began implementing some of her suggestions, such as distributing bags of rice to workers and improving underground conditions, before backtracking and reigniting tensions.
They also refuted Octea’s claims that Dr. Bio incited unrest, referring to them as “malice” and asserting that the strike began well before her involvement. The response accused Octea of exploiting the global fall in diamond prices and unresolved labour grievances as a pretext to blame the First Lady for broader operational challenges.
Dr. Bio’s legal team has now demanded that Octea issue a formal apology and pay $50 million in damages to the National Revenue Authority within seven days. They also warned of impending legal action in both Sierra Leone and Guernsey, the jurisdiction where Octea is incorporated.
Moreover, the lawyers stated their intention to file complaints with international human rights organizations, potentially leading to a campaign to have Koidu’s diamonds declared as products of labour abuse, a move that could severely damage the company’s international market reputation.
