Sabina Wanjiru Chege is one of the first few women in the country to benefit from Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, after being elected the first Woman Representative for Murang’a County in 2013.
Before getting into politics, Ms Chege was best know for her role as an actress television soap Tausi where the played the role of Rehema.
She later worked as a radio presenter on Coro FM before ascending to the management level, this time at Kameme FM. In her latter days in media, she worked for the national broadcaster, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) between 2007 and 2012, as the programs controller. A program controller ensures what is aired on the station is in line with both the creative and commercial needs of the station.
She also worked for communication firm Space Africa as the regional manager.
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Unknown to many, Ms Chege was primarily trained as a teacher at the University of Nairobi where she attained a bachelor’s degree in Education, a career path she has never followed.
She also attended the Kenya Institute of Management before pursuing a master’s degree in communication, after she was fully immersed in media.
She was elected to the National Assembly as women’s representative for Muranga county in 2013 with 96.6 percent of the vote, being one of the few politicians who won their seats with a landslide.
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In her first term in parliament, she was chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Education, Research and Technology and a member of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee. After her re-election in 2017, she was appointed the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Health.
Many would have expected that after having had a smooth career in politics, she would automatically fight to retain her seat in the forthcoming August polls, but Chege bolted out, “to give a chance to others”.
Chege, among the politicians angling to be Raila Odinga’s running mate, announced that President Uhuru Kenyatta had asked her to abandon her political career to serve the nation at the national level.
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“President Kenyatta requested me to serve at the national level. I have served for two terms as a woman representative and it is time to give another person a chance,” she said.
Away from politics, Ms Chege runs The Sabina Wanjiru Foundation which addresses women’s issues in society and concerns affecting the youth.
She was married to Kikuyu musician the late John De’Matthew (Ndemethiu) before they went their separate ways. She later met former Kenya Dairy Board chair Mr Maina Gathitu to whom she got married as a second wife.
She was once a video vixen in John De Mathew’s song ‘Njata Yakwa’ (You are my heart).
She is the mother of three children.
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