[5] She was the seventh of nine children of Mr. Gabriel Magige, of Baraki, Tareme[6] and his wife Hannah Nyashiboha.

She was a boarding scholar at Sumve Teacher Training College in Mwanza, where she attained a teaching certificate and She began her work by teaching at Nyegina Primary School at Musoma.

He became an activist and politician, co-founder and president of Tanzania.

She currently serves as one of ten members of the council of elders of the Alliance for Tanzania Youth Economic Empowerment (Atyee), which also includes former Union President Ali Hassan Mwinyi and former Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume.

[8] She is commonly known as Mama Maria in the Tanzanian media.