Maria Actress: I'll Go Into Politics Seriously

Actress Dorea Chege, famously known by the character name Maggy on the popular Citizen TV drama series Maria, has offered a hint of pursuing politics seriously, having resigned from contention ahead of the August 9 general elections.

In an interview with Buzz Central's Cheptoek Boyo, Chege noted that owing to her experience seeking to vie for the Nairobi Women Representative seat in the elections, she was going to consider it in the future.

She thus dismissed reports that she had kept her political ambitions away completely, adding that she was planning to resurface having taken a pause from it.

A past campaign billboard of Dorea Chege in Nairobi. /MAGIE MARIA.INSTAGRAM

“I have seen how things run. I will try it next time and venture into politics seriously," she assured.

Revisiting her first attempt, Chege revealed that she had dived into it as a joke when she was convinced by her videographer to share a poster he created on social media as a joke, just to see how people would react. However, she was not expecting the level of reactions that followed after that post went viral.

She noted that she received numerous calls from members of her family as well as messages from politicians and fans encouraging her to take that bold step.

“It went viral to an extent my grandfather was calling me from the village asking me what’s up and my mom called me to tell me that I could do it. I received so many DM’s from politicians because it went viral with people encouraging me and I felt like I was going to do it.

"Sometimes you never know how much influence you have on people until you do something and it reveals just how much influence I have," she added.

Chege added that she has always had leadership roles since primary school to the point she was a prefect and a leader in her relationships, which have been grooming her for a political position.

She took her political ambitions seriously before she was bombarded by monetary offers to step down from contention for the woman representative seat as well as threats.

“I became serious until when I started receiving threats. Someone approached me and they told me they are willing to give me a certain amount of money for me to step down while others wanted me to help them with campaigns.

"I was not sure of what I wanted plus I wasn’t ready to deal with all those threats so I backed out," she added.

Had she not dropped her ambitions, she would have faced off against Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party's Esther Passaris and United Democratic Alliance (UDA)'s Millicent Omanga, the two leading candidates for the Nairobi Woman Rep seat.

According to a TIFA poll on Tuesday, August 2, Passaris is the most preferred Woman Rep candidate in Nairobi with 44 per cent with Omanga following in second at 28 per cent.

TIFA poll showing Nairobi's most popular woman representative candidates. /VIRALTEAKE