By KT Reporter
Moments before naming John Baptist Nambeshe the acting NUP president, party top boss Robert Kyagulanyi got reports that Lena Zedriga (who has since relocated to Europe for a teaching job) was increasingly becoming disgruntled and was planning to humiliate him by announcing her resignation.
Zedriga had been complaining to close confidants at Kavule showing her anger and disappointment over the fact that she had been given byoya byanswa or hot air. Namely a responsibility without facilitation yet it needed lots of money to serve effectively.
She was unhappy she was made the acting president without enough facilitation, yet this turned out to be a more expensive task than she thought. She had to be in many places representing Kyagulanyi without being facilitated with things like transport means and other allowances.
Zedriga lives in Gayaza where she has her home and owns a very old car-a Super custom. It keeps breaking down and being in a garage almost daily, as can be expected of a very old car in dangerous mechanical condition.
Many times, Zedriga would be driving to Kavule and her super custom breaks down. She ends up traveling on a boda boda or in a taxi on a good day.
She told close confidants including foot soldiers that she expected to be given a good car by the party when she was made the acting president. She also expected fuel and some retainer since she isn’t employed anywhere.
This never happened as Rubongoya kept telling her there is no money, the party is broken. Zedriga would sometimes fluke a lift in the vehicle of the NUP deputy president for western Uganda.
Zedriga was also angry that the little money she is entitled to as a NEC member as allowances for the meetings attended, would never be paid. This made her to feel unwanted and disrespected.
When Waiswa Mufumbiro’s wife Edith Katende died, Zedriga had to be in church and vigils everywhere in her capacity as the acting president. That day her old super custom didn’t break down but she lacked fuel.
She struggled and even had to borrow from foot soldiers to be able to buy fuel. She felt the party should have bailed her out, but they didn’t. She went through a lot to travel to Luuka district for Edith’s burial.
Zedriga’s worst day came on the day Taata Mbogo, father to Kyagulanyi’s bodyguard Mbogo, was buried. She is jobless with no income and had to travel upcountry to represent the party president, being the one acting.
She used public means for part of the journey to that burial, and she kept complaining to those she travelled with. She was hurt when Joel Ssenyonyi made fun of her at the burial.
The LoP likes joking a lot and he casually asked her, “acting president, how did you manage to reach here today?” He asked how she was travelling back to Kampala.
He offered to give her a lift back to Kampala in his convoy, but Zedriga refused because she was already angry, feeling disrespected and belittled over the way the LoP asked about her travel difficulties to the burial place.
Joel Ssentonyi then gave her Ugx200,000 to help on her return journey back to Kampala. Zedriga accepted the money but some of her close allies at Kavule felt she deserved much more.
A female NUP MP who is also disgruntled demeaned Joel Ssenyonyi’s offer by saying that 200k was too small and good for a foot soldier but not the whole acting president. Zedriga kept becoming disgruntled and staying away from top party meetings.
She hated the way some foot soldiers, close to her haters in NEC, kept trivializing her for coming to office on boda boda between her Gayaza home and Kavule.
Knowledgeable insiders say that by the time Kyagulanyi named Nambeshe the acting president, Zedriga was already on a silent strike whereby she was no longer giving priority to the NUP business and had already gone AWOL.
This is why she didn’t officially hand over anything to Nambeshe because she had already made her unceremonious departure. She had started grumbling that she was mistreated and disrespected while serving as acting president because of where she comes from-Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
