Oliver Mathenge is arguably one of the country’s most skilled and knowledgeable digital journalists.
He boasts of a 16-year career in communications – 15 of which have been in active political and current affairs journalism – merges a journalistic focus on strategic message delivery and problem-solving with a journalist’s persistence and storytelling excellence.
He has also been involved in corporate branding, communication, and marketing, with proven results in the education and behavior change communication sectors.
Mathenge has beat all odds to become a household name in the media industry. What many don’t know is that he worked at a pork butchery before making a name in the media industry.
In this article, we outline Mathenge’s journey to being the great journalist he is today:
According to information shared on Linkedln, Mathenge, currently, the lead expert and Nation Broadcasting Division’s (NTV and Nation FM) focal point for all matters concerning digital products and services, attended Nyeri High School and completed his O-levels in 2001.
He later joined Strathmore University in 2002 and pursued a Diploma in Management Information Systems, after which he undertook an undergraduate degree in Communication (Electronic and Print Media) at Daystar university.
While weighing on President William Ruto’s daughter Charlene Ruto undated video claiming she sold ‘smokies’ while at the university, Mathenge contended that despite being a successful journalist in the media industry, he had a tough time growing up.
In a series of tweets, he said he once worked at a pork butchery and would begin his days by rushing to City Market to get pig heads for soup.
“The Charlene story reminds me, because of where I am today, people never believe I used to work at a pork butchery owned my late uncle in Ngara. No one believes that I used to start my day by going to City Market at 6am to buy pig heads for soup that mechs around the area loved,” he tweeted.
He further claimed that working at the butchery had its challenges, but it shaped him into who he is today.
“I used to smell of pig meat plus blood and smoke all day. It was a humbling experience to get into a mat from CBD to Ngara (and later Kahawa Sukari at the second butchery). Sometimes, we are never our history,” he divulged.
In an earlier tweet, Mathenge claimed to have worked at a butchery to raise school fees.
‘Usijali. I worked in a butchery to raise fees. Did other odd jobs that built me.’’ Mathenge replied to a tweet.
He began his journalism career in 2007 while working at Nation Media Group, writing content for Daily Nation, Saturday Nation, Sunday Nation, and Taifa Newspapers.
He served in the role for five years, after which he moved to Radio Africa. At Radio Africa, he joined the newsroom as a political reporter.
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Oliver later became a Senior reporter leading the Parliamentary team before being confirmed as the Digital Editor in 2017.
He oversaw content development and publishing for Radio Africa Group’s outlets – The Star Newspaper, Mpasho, Classic 105, Kiss 100, and Radio Jambo.
Mathenge, in November 2021, officially announced to end of his stint at Radio Africa Group.
During his time at Radio Africa, he worked with a great team to grow their audience from less than 2 million monthly unique users for the Star in 2017 to almost 4 million.
Mathenge is also credited with leading the digital transition from the old website to the new Cosmos CMS platform, which encompasses new digital elements to improve the online reading experience.
