Julius Maada Bio’s wife, Fatima Bio, has said that because Julius Maada Bio has a PhD in coup planning, no one can remove him.
She was alluding to the violent riots that took place on August 10 in strongholds of the opposition and left 31 people dead, including six police officers.
The top three generals in the army were fired as a result of the president’s accusations that the opposition was behind the protests, which were typically motivated by the high cost of living.
Speaking at a charity event over the weekend in the US, Mrs. Bio claimed that unknown individuals wanted to have her husband removed from power.
“Maada Bio has a PhD in coup d’état, can you remove him?” she asked rhetorically, before reiterating: “The man has a PhD in [staging] coups, how can you remove someone who teaches people how to stage a coup?,” the first lady said in a video shared on Facebook.
Mrs. Bio was ostensibly alluding to the fact that her husband first came to power in April 1992 as a member of a group of young military officers who overthrew the civilian administration of Joseph Saidu Momoh of the All People’s Congress, the party he defeated in the 2018 elections and whom he accused of being responsible for the protests in August.
The claims were vigorously refuted by the opposition party.
The statement has drawn widespread condemnation, including from some of her Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPPmore )’s moderate members.
Mrs. Bio is a frequent user of Facebook and TikTok and is renowned for posting contentious remarks.
Neither she nor anyone at the presidency had commented on the responses to their comments about the coup.
