People Power pressure group deputy principal Dr Lina Zedriga Waru Abuku might be underrated by some who don’t know her but those who she has worked with and brought to the limelight both in the opposition and in government speak well of her.
In April, Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka Bobi Wine unveiled Dr Zedriga as his deputy principal at the People Power to help the pressure group tap into the elite and northern Uganda from which she comes from.
Among the things Zedriga pledged to do was to make the People Power group popular outside Kampala and urban centres, create awareness about the pressure group and make it clearly understood, as well as “redefine political engagement from cash transactions to transformation through humanity, by touching people’s hearts with the truth and a direction that they can all value.”
Away from those in People Power who showered her with praises and shared her rich profile as an activist and academic, Zedriga has some admirers in the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) as well.
Although most of them understandably fear openly praising her because she is a deputy to Bobi Wine who has already expressed interest in the seat currently occupied by their boss President Yoweri Museveni, a few bold ones like Kampala Affairs Minister Betty Amongi Ongom Akena have come out to praise Zedriga.
In a recent media interview focusing on Zedriga’s planned policy as second in command at Bobi Wine’s People Power, Minister Amongi, also Oyam South MP, spoke well of Dr Lina Zedriga Waru Abuku who groomed her, leader of opposition in Parliament and Gulu Woman MP Betty Aol Ocan and State minister of Finance in charge of Investments and Privatisation Evelyn Anite, into politics.
“I know her as a very knowledgeable and intelligent person. She also stands firm for the women on different fronts,” said Minister Amongi, also wife to Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) President Jimmy Akena.
However, Minister Amongi made it clear that she still supports Museveni, and wished well for Zedriga in her plans to help Bobi Wine’s People Power’s achieve its goals as have been highlighted by the pressure group’s leaders. She even advised Zedriga, who lost to Minister Gabriel Ajedra Aridru in the Vurra County MP seat in 2016, to try and do things differently.
“Now that she is coming into direct politics, she will have to adjust. What we see in the NGO world are the ideals, but in politics you are hit with reality. She will have to compromise on certain things, but I wish her well as she supports another candidate different from mine,” said Amongi, herself a UPC MP who compromised to accept an appointment from Museveni.
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