Power behind Parents magazine features in Kenya Year Book

Parent’s Magazine Managing Director, Eunice Mathu has been featured in this year’s Kenya Year Book- a publication, published yearly, by the government of Kenya.

Mathu was featured for her remarkable in put in families in Kenya through Parents magazine.

Parents’ magazine is the longest running magazine in Kenya; it has been in the market for three decades. The magazine has nurtured families, skilful journalists in Kenya among others.

According to Mathu Journalism was not her go to career, “I accidentally stumbled into journalism,’’ she recalls. She says that she wanted to pursue a degree in Commerce but since she got a sponsorship, she decided to try it out. She now considers journalism as a highly practical subject to pursue.

When she was a student, she worked for Nation newspaper and in Kenya Broadcasting Corporation printing department. By the time she was leaving university she had secured a position as a film reviewer for Daily Nation before being promoted as the Features Writer.  She later left the media house in 1979 after joining Unilever Communication Department as a Management Trainee. She lasted with the company for two years putting her skills to use.

Mathu was then approached by Inter-Press Services a Rome-based Media organization where she worked part-time with the company as a coordinator for news features on women hence birth of Stellan Consult Limited, Parents magazine mother company.

Contrast to what people think parents was not her first publication, “ My first publication was Consumer’s Digest a public relations platform for Kenyan brands. Later on, Parents Magazine was born and after three years I stopped publishing Consumer Digest to concentrate on Parents Magazine,” she said.

In the 80’s it was hard for a woman to obtain a bank receipt. Despite encountering challenges she received praises from people for inspiring them. She also lost writers to newspaper and decided to train interns and let them grow within the company.

She welcomes growth in media and hopes that it helps the media industry grow. She also feels like social media and the value added tax has destroyed the reading culture.

Kenya Year Book is annual government sponsored publication that book aims at helping Kenyans understand their country landscape better by promoting government project and achievements.

The book was established in 2007 following the Presidential Order to facilitate government communication.