To encounter the work and worldview of Jerry Lusiku Mwikisa, known to the creative music world as Emzee Mayor, is to witness a singular, compelling phenomenon, a human symphony where every note from the deepest bass of social activism to the soaring treble of artistic innovation is played in resonant harmony. He is not a man of fragmented pursuits but a masterful composer of an integrated life, where the rhythm of a film edit meets the cadence of a community dialogue and where a strategic marketing plan shares a heartbeat with a line of heartfelt poetry. Born on May 14, 1997, in the vibrant Katima Mulilo of the mighty Zambezi Region. Jerry’s story is a testament to the power of a stubborn, curious spirit nurtured by the rich soil of Namibia and destined to echo across continents.
His foundational years in Makanga Village and later at GreenWell Matongo Primary School, Brendan Simbwaye P.S, Mayuni and Ngweze Senior Secondary School, were not a prelude to greatness but its first active chapter. He confesses to being the “stubborn troublemaker” in class, but his trouble was not with authority, it was with limitation and excellency. His mischief was a boundless curiosity, an early fascination with the “new technologies” of the mid-2000s, a pressing need to understand how things worked and how they could be bent to serve imagination. This inherent drive was lovingly framed by the guidance of his parents. His mother, Anister Kanyanso Mutakazona, provided the bedrock of inspiration, a daily lesson in resilience that taught him to “always strive for greatness.” His father, Kenny Lusiku, was his anchor, a presence whose passing in 2008 left a void but also solidified a legacy of ambition. “My mother inspired me not to limit myself, or copy other people’s lifestyles and pursue what meant and felt the world to me,” Jerry reflects, acknowledging even the disciplining beatings as forces that shaped his unwavering discipline. This early environment created not a blank slate, but a prepared canvas, one already textured with the values of perseverance, self-belief and an almost spiritual connection to purpose.
The awakening of his creative voice was both gradual and explosive. Since his matric year at Saint Kizito College in 2015 and enrollment to study Public Management, majoring in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Namibia in 2016, he has been a vessel for insightful stories, filling notebooks with scripts, songs and poems. His musical identity, Emzee Mayor, found its roots in 2009 at Brendan Simbwaye Primary School, drawing a rich blend of inspiration from the profound social commentary of Kwaito Stars Gazza, Lucky Dube and Peter Tosh and the visceral, street-smart energy of Vybz Kartel and Popcaan. This was not mere imitation as it was the formation of a dialectic, a way to process the world. He discovered, quite powerfully, that his voice and words could “heal souls,” but he quickly realized that healing on an individual level required addressing the systemic sicknesses surrounding him. The creative arts became his chosen methodology, a “way to creatively and professionally address many spiritual, socio-economic and political injustices within self and the system.”
This journey from personal expression to systemic engagement found its pivotal turning point in 2008, with a simple, transformative act, volunteering at the Katima Mulilo Youth Resource Centre. Jerry speaks of this not as a casual entry on a resume, but as the master key that unlocked his future leadership attributes. “Volunteering really opened a lot of doors for me,” he states and the evidence cascades through his biography. From that first act of service, he embarked on a path that would see him volunteer in over forty initiatives with a constellation of organizations that include UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, AU Lifeline/Childline, ADRA Namibia and countless local community projects. This was his real university. It was in these spaces of communal effort that he honed his skills, built an unparalleled network and cultivated the “curiosity of always learning something new through offering knowledge exchange with others.” His advice to African youth is stamped with this experience: “I encourage all African Youth who want to become great leaders to always take and use the opportunity to volunteer in everything available or within their reach.” For Jerry, volunteering was the ultimate strategy, a means to broaden and sharpen one’s capacity into a “resilient mindset,” forging leaders willing to invest their time, energy and talent into the clay of their societies.
From this fertile ground of service and self-education, his formal enterprises blossomed. In 2018, he established ‘Genuine Media Minds CC’, a digital and entertainment company that is far more than a business, it is a manifesto in action. Its core vision is deceptively simple yet radically profound, “to simplify innovation, build a society defined by individual actions and local skills.” Jerry identified a critical, aching gap in the Namibian Creative industry and particularly the Zambezi’s creative landscape. He saw a wealth of untapped talent with no platform for authentic expression and no structured or local pathway for professional training. He saw stories waiting to be told by the people who lived them. Genuine Media Minds became that platform of expression and pathway. Here, Jerry embodies the multifaceted creator, CEO, creative director, filmmaker, writer and strategist. The company’s output is a testament to its ethos, with over eleven music videos, nine documentaries and a slate of client services that bridge the creative, agricultural, tourism and civil society sectors. He directs with the eye of a storyteller who understands that the most powerful narratives are those felt in the bone and remembered in the spirit, “capturing emotions that are felt but never seen.”
The crowning achievement of this creative arm is undoubtedly his film, ‘The Narrow Street’. The story of its creation is a masterclass in creative resilience. Conceived and written during the isolating uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the script was a two-year labour of love and stubborn vision. In 2021, that vision materialized when Genuine Media Minds secured funding from the Namibia Film Commission, catapulting Jerry Lusiku at 24 years of age into the history books as the first youth from the Zambezi Region to write and direct a funded film. The production was a societal microcosm, a project that required Jerry to lead and unify a team of over thirty young individuals from disparate backgrounds. “I had to engage them into my vision of the film industry as it has been rare in our region,” he recalls. The leadership lesson was immense, teaching him humility and the perils of ego. “I have learnt to be humble and never be consumed by pride or egocentric as it blinds the vision of working with others.” The film’s release and exhibition at the Namibia Film Week in Windhoek in 2024 was not merely a premiere, it was a cultural event. Audiences saw their neighbours, their streets and their own struggles reflected on the cinema screen. The feedback was powerfully positive, sparking conversations about social behaviour and self-awareness. For Jerry, the film is the ultimate representation of his creative philosophy, a proof of concept that local stories, told with integrity and professional craft, have the power to move, to challenge and to validate the experiences of a community.
Running in perfect parallel to this creative engine is the beating heart of his advocacy and activism, ‘My Voice in Society Organization’. Founded in the same catalytic year of 2018, this youth-led and community non-profit is the structured, actionable counterpart to his artistic expressions. If Genuine Media Minds shows the ‘what, My Voice in Society tackles the ‘how’. Its mission is to “amplify the most profound aspects of a youthful community that advocates the voice of the voiceless.” The organization’s scope is breathtakingly comprehensive, a deliberate embrace of the interconnectedness of social issues that include Human Rights, Governance, Youth Leadership, Women and Community Empowerment, Creativity and Innovation, Mentorship, Climate Change Advocacy, Sexual Reproductive Health, Men and Boy’s Mental Health, Gender-Based Violence and HIV/AIDS. This is not a scattering of interests but a holistic understanding that a young person’s potential cannot be unlocked if they are silenced, unhealthy, uninformed or living in a degraded environment.
The organization’s methodology is as sophisticated as its scope. Jerry describes it as creating “structured platforms for advocacy, such as youth advisory boards and community forums,” which are designed to foster genuine leadership and self-advocacy. It operates by “creating safe spaces” for open dialogue, facilitating “direct engagement” with decision-makers through roundtables and workshops and “building capacity” by providing the technical training and resources youth need to formulate evidence-based arguments for policy change. This work has tangible outcomes. The organization has conducted numerous campaigns and has “handed over 3 petitions to officials in the Zambezi Region on issues relating to child abuse and negligence, injustice, discrimination of youth in the planning process and unattended ill-health within the disadvantaged community.” For Jerry, this is the essential work of “bridging the gaps between youth unemployment and youth engagement in regional to national development.” It is the practical, on-the-ground arm of his belief that society is defined by individual and collective action.
Jerry’s personal role within this sphere of advocacy is particularly significant. He has served as a “Male Champion” and community facilitator for pivotal projects like the DREAMS project with Lifeline/Childline Namibia and the REACH 1 NAMIBIA Project with Regain Trust and Project Hope Namibia, LDM, Youth Mentor with ADRA Namibia etc. In these roles, he steps into the complex, often fraught space of gender norms, working directly with adolescent boys and young men. His mission is to “engage Boys/Men to exercise Healthy lifestyles,” which involves the delicate, crucial work of “challenging Harmful Cultural and Gender Norms.” He trains them in positive masculinity, provides psychosocial counselling and addresses the toxic linkages between societal pressure, mental health and issues like GBV and HIV/AIDS. He is a qualified HIV rapid tester, a skill that exemplifies his hands-on, non-judgmental approach to public health. This work translates directly into his creative content, informing the narratives he crafts about manhood, responsibility and social change. He uses film, music and poetry to “dismantle stereotypes that associate manhood with dominance, instead promoting empathy and accountability.”
The sheer breadth of his professional portfolio could seem dizzying if not for the clear, unifying philosophy that governs it all. Jerry is a master of what he might call “harmonic diversification.” He further served as the Marketing Strategist for the Caprivi Vision Newspaper, injecting local media with innovative narrative strategies, Camera Operator and Brand Ambassador for Jumper Namibia, lending his visual expertise to commercial ventures. He hosts the ‘One Vibration Podcast’, a digital platform where he fosters “intimate, unfiltered and personal connection” with a global audience, using the medium to build community and cross-continental dialogue. He served as the NAYAM Chairperson for the NAPPA Clinic in the Zambezi Region, focusing on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. He now finds himself as the Youth and Media Coordinator for the Zambezi Tourism Promotion Association, working to market the region’s untapped tourism potential. This is not a series of jobs, it is a single, multifaceted campaign waged on different fronts. He balances it all through what he terms an “eagle insight and organizational leadership,” coupled with rigorous time management and a loyal, delegated team. “Time management, focus and priority for certain projects gives me the balance between the two worlds,” he explains, the worlds of commerce and impact, art and activism.
This intricate local work is consistently elevated and informed by a global perspective. Jerry’s academic background in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Namibia was not an abstract pursuit, it equipped him with a macro-level analytical framework. He views creative projects not just as artworks but as complex systems requiring strategic development and ethical leadership. This lens made him an ideal representative for Namibia on the world stage. His participation in the EU-supported “Youth for Global Goals” conference in 2018 was an early forum where he passionately argued for “building Namibia with local skills” and positioned himself as an “ambassador for peers.” This role expanded magnificently when he was nominated as a delegate to the 4th African Union Pan-African Youth Forum in Oran, Algeria, in 2024 and later to represent Namibia in the Southern Africa Afri’Talent cohort in Johannesburg, South Africa. These experiences were transformative, allowing him to “bridge localized, youth-driven activism with international and the strategic sustainable developmental goals.” He carried the raw, urgent concerns of Zambezi youth into continental policy chambers and returned with a broadened network and a reinforced belief in Pan-African solutions. “Pan-Africanism serves as a core ideological foundation,” he says, driving his focus on “continental unity, youth empowerment and cultural diversity and advocacy.” He believes firmly in the model of “Africans solving African problems,” and his creative work is a vehicle for promoting the unified, self-reliant Africa envisioned in the African Youth Charter and AU’s Agenda 2063.
Jerry’s worldview on success and recognition is perhaps the most revealing aspect of his character, offering a profound antidote to a culture obsessed with external validation. In a world chasing trophies, his definition is refreshingly introspective and expansive. “Beyond awards and recognition, success for me is simply being happy with who I am and what I have, than what I must be or will achieve top ranks,” he shares with serene conviction. He consciously rejects the chase for the spotlight, advocating instead to “lead from behind, create more leaders who will achieve and win even more than me.” For him, the ultimate accolade is a legacy of nurtured talent, a multiplicative impact. “That is the recognition and success I would love to have or be remembered for,” he notes, adding with spiritual humility, “as I believe that divine intervention does not need approval or seek recognition.”
He eloquently expands on this philosophy, framing true recognition as that which celebrates growth, shared purpose and enduring values. He references Albert Einstein’s aspiration to be “a man of value” over a man of success, and Maya Angelou’s timeless truth that people “ will forget what you said but will never forget how you made them feel.” For Jerry, awards are mere milestones, the real journey is one of character, empathy and service. “The real joy of recognition comes from knowing that we have created something worthwhile, grown in our abilities and reached goals that align with who we want to become.” He dreams of “purpose-driven achievements that benefit not just the recipient but the wider world,” a fulfilment aligned with Albert Schweitzer’s view that “the purpose of human life is to serve.” Ultimately, he finds peace in the wisdom of John Wooden: “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” This inner compass allows him to navigate the pressures of his myriad roles with a preternatural calm and focus.
His spiritual foundation is the bedrock of this perspective. A Rastafarian conscious man who grew up in a Christian home, Jerry describes his awakening to Rastafari consciousness in 2015 as a pivotal moment of self-realization. It is a spirituality that infuses his work with a sense of divine purpose and natural order. He speaks of his moves being of “divine intervention and natural intelligence that comes to serve a generation of the new world order.” This faith is not a retreat from the world but a fuel for engagement, grounding his ambitious, outward-focused work in a deep, internal certainty.
Looking forward, Jerry’s vision is characteristically clear, ambitious and rooted in community. He sees the next five years as a period of profound consolidation and expansion for Genuine Media Minds, envisioning it as “the leading creative Multi-Digital Media, Filming and Entertainment Company in Katima Mulilo, Zambezi Region.” His goals are concrete: to employ more youth and women, provide “tangible and practical support in rural areas and marginalized communities,” and train over 500 elders in digital literacy. He envisions a robust collaborative ecosystem with other SADC youth-led organizations, creating a platform where youth can “freely express themselves, showcase their untapped potential and become citizens of purpose by giving back to their communities and the Africa we want to see.”
He is actively seeking partnerships to realize this vision, with film co-producers, international NGOs, impact-first investors and private brands that see value in authentic storytelling for their CSR initiatives. His model, focused on community ownership, asset-based development and cultural-creative synergy, is, as he rightly argues, “highly adaptable to other African or global contexts,” particularly in the Global South, where grassroots innovation is paramount.
Jerry Lusiku’s life and work culminate in a powerful, singular message to the world about Namibian and African youth. He sees a generation that is “now becoming the change they need,” shifting from a mentality of waiting for what the government can do but being proactive in building our own communities. “Society cannot define you, but you define society with what you do,” he declares, a mantra he lives by every day. He calls on the youth to revisit their “ancestral history, cultural heritage and spirituality,” arguing that a solid sense of identity and belonging is the only true compass for direction. He is a living rebuke to hopelessness, a demonstration that creativity, when fused with strategic thinking and an unwavering ethical core, is one of the most powerful forces for development on the continent.
In the end, Jerry Lusiku (Emzee Mayor) is ultimately than a profile, he is a proposition. He proposes that an artist can be an advocate, that a CEO can be a counsellor, that a local voice can carry global resonance and that true success is measured not in the noise of applause but in the quiet, multiplying fruit of a seeded idea, a healed soul, a trained mind and a community empowered to tell its own story. He is the harmonic architect, tirelessly working to build a new African narrative, one defined from within, resonant with purpose and forever driving growth.
Connect with Jerry Lusiku. Explore his work and collaborate through the following channels
LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-lusiku-10122922b
YouTube |https://share.google/YXMdQQRQ9Uywr3Sd6
Facebook | Connect directly under @Jerry Lusiku, @KecizoWorldwide @Emzee Mayor
General & Personal | jerrylusiku@gmail.com |
Media & Creative Projects | geniunemediaminds@gmail.com
Advocacy & Community Initiatives| myvoiceorganization@gmail.com
