In the Stade district of Lower Saxony, Germany, a Kenyan immigrant is using local politics to give Africans and other newcomers a stronger voice.
Terry Atieno, popularly known as Terry Chocolate, has lived in Germany for 21 years and has become one of the prominent Kenyan voices campaigning for immigrant rights. She serves in the local assembly as an elected official, pushing for greater inclusion and better opportunities for Africans in the diaspora.
She was born in Ng’iya village in Siaya County. After completing high school, she enrolled in an au pair programme in Germany, which allows young Kenyans to live with a host family for six to twelve months.
Kenyan journalist based in Germany Terry Atieno alias proud chocolate pictured during an interview on March 30, 2026 at her apartment in Kilimani Nairobi.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation
To participate in the programme, you must agree to provide childcare and light housework in Germany in exchange for free accommodation, meals, health insurance, a monthly stipend and a subsidy for language courses.
Initially, her mother was against her leaving for Germany, but uncertainty in the village and fears that she might become pregnant at an early age made her change her mind.
“I went to the visa interview after a back-and-forth debate with my mother. I didn’t want to go, but my mother had hurriedly called me to tell me that I was going to have a baby if I didn’t go,” Terry said.
“I was asked two or three questions: What is the telephone number of your host family? I answered in German. What do they do?...” Terry got her visa in 2005 and was ready to leave the country.
Terry told the Nation that her first years in Germany and adjusting to the new environment were not a walk in the park.
She met her first host family, with whom she was supposed to work for at least one year. However, she overstayed for four years, forcing her to seek shelter with friends in the US for some months before returning to Germany after one of the families reached out to her.
After working as a nanny in various cities during her early years, she defied the odds to become the first Kenyan to take a landmark step in the European political arena.
During the 2022 elections, she dared to represent the people of one of the districts in the Hamburg metropolitan region, some 250km northwest of Germany's capital, Berlin.
Kenyan journalist based in Germany Terry Atieno alias proud chocolate pictured during an interview on March 30, 2026 at her apartment in Kilimani Nairobi.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation
But by then, she had become an established podcaster. She had pursued an early journalism course in Kenya while processing her next move: relocating to a new environment.
Through her podcast, Terry addressed the challenges that non-locals face when arriving in Germany, offering advice on how to survive in a foreign country, among other topics.
This earned her fame among her fans and attracted the attention of Die Linke (The Left), a German political party that advocates a broadly democratic socialist platform.
Terry, who is in Kenya on holiday, said that she is representing the rights of immigrants and ensuring that they get better jobs than they did a few years ago, when they were only working as nannies.
“We deal with immigrants, diversification, inclusivity and many other things. We fight for black Germans who are yet to be accepted for several reasons,” Terry said.
With the current legislative term coming to an end this year, Terry has announced that she will not be seeking re-election due to emerging issues that conflict with her plans.
“Things have changed. You find someone going to Germany to work as a doctor, which was not the case before. We didn’t have that, and those are the things we went to voice in the assembly,” she said, adding that issues from the Assembly will be presented to Parliament for further consideration.
Kenyan journalist based in Germany Terry Atieno alias proud chocolate pictured during an interview on March 30, 2026 at her apartment in Kilimani Nairobi.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation
Although Germans' attitudes towards immigrants have changed over the years, Terry believes that European countries should embrace everyone regardless of their background when it comes to job allocation and treatment in public places.
“I went there just to fight for us to be accepted, and for our contribution to society and the jobs that we do to be recognised. They should know that if they send all immigrants out of Germany, who will work?”
She noted that the number of immigrants working in government offices and engineering companies across the country has increased tremendously compared with a few years ago.
“We are now working in television stations. We have Kenyans who are even creating content for television in Germany, because of people like me.”
As she reflects on her journey in politics abroad, Terry says she was motivated and encouraged to venture into politics by the late Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga.
Before becoming a politician, Terry says that she used to market Kenyan and African songs by sharing the videos and their meanings on YouTube and other social media platforms.
“I think I have done well, especially when I look at people who are now doing podcasts about life in Germany and saying that I was their inspiration.
“I was not just there as an immigrant. I made it possible for our musicians to be known there and opened space for them to perform in Germany. I took the opportunity and the platform that I got to market their music.”
However, life in a foreign country has not been easy. She has had to stay afloat while battling racism, rejection and financial constraints with no one to turn to, especially during her early years in Germany.
Terry says she has seen it all. Serving as an ‘MCA’, she says, is just a bonus on top of her permanent job at an engineering company. She is pursuing a degree at the University of Hamburg.
