She was at the forefront of Ghanaian politics, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that veteran actress Grace Omaboe, popularly known as Maame Dokono, says she wants nothing to do with politics now.

“The disgrace and insults I received for going into politics openly were too much for me. I have learnt my lessons and will not go into politics again. Even if I will go into politics, I will be behind the scenes and not as openly as did in the past,” she told Showbiz last Tuesday.

Maame Dokono was a staunch member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) before she defected to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and she had her fair share of insults while with the NDC and when she eventually defected to the NPP.

“Like everyone else, I have my political party but I won’t be seen openly doing politics as I used to do in the past. It won’t ever happen again, trust me,” she said.

Maame Dokono currently runs her school, the Graceful Grace School, at Adentan. 

It used to be the Peace and Love Orphanage but she has converted it into a school which she says is not doing badly.

“It hasn’t been easy but we are managing and looking up to God. Some of the pupils don’t even pay their fees but what can we do? We have always been there for the poor so we manage the situation,” she said.

Commenting on the local movie industry, the Obra star said it had gone down drastically. “It has really gone down, though some are still producing, I know Kumawood, for instance, is still quite active. Fortunately for me, I have done about four movies recently, including one for Salma Mumin and I have another two to shoot in December.”

At age 72, Maame Dokono believes that going on set keeps her active, apart from the fact that she enjoys being on set.

“Though I have a school, I like to go out and work because it is always fun to be on set. I really had fun on Salma’s set playing the mother of Jackie Appiah. There were a lot of stars in that movie and we had so much fun on set,” she recalled.

She is of the opinion that the big names in the movie industry seem to be missing in action now.

“We don’t see the big shots in the industry doing productions and that is rather unfortunate,” she said. 

Maame Dokono really looks good for someone her age and she says it is all by the grace of God and taking good care of herself.

“Apart from the intermittent pains in my knees, I must admit that I am very fine and healthy. I take a lot of vitamins and food supplements and watch what I eat. I don’t joke with my plantain and kontonmire at all,” she said with laughter.

“Everyone needs to have God in his or her life. He is your hope and He will do everything for you. God has been very good to me,” she stressed.

Maame Dokono says she also visits her children abroad every now and adds that her children are very supportive of her and that has really helped her.

Guess what? She still shoots the popular Obra series on GTV.

“Yes, Obra is still on air. We go for rehearsals and shoot. We are given something small at the end of the month. It’s not much but we still do it for the love of it,” she stated.