NUP Acting President Zedriga Narrates Abduction Experience

NUP Vice President for Northern Uganda Dr Lina Zedriga Waru.

National Unity Platform (NUP) Acting President Dr Lina Zedriga Waru has spoken out for the first time about her harrowing abduction and detention, revealing how her captors warned her against speaking to the press and threatened to re-arrest her if she did.

Addressing a press briefing on Thursday, Dr Zedriga thanked lawyers and judges for the Constitutional Court’s landmark ruling yesterday that quashed the controversial Computer Misuse Act, describing it as a “draconian law” that could have been used to haunt opposition figures like her.

“We thank the lawyers and the judges yesterday that the draconian law (Computer Misuse Act) was quashed. So it is also one of those where there would have been a possibility of haunting us,” she said.

Dr Zedriga narrated how during her captivity, she and others were explicitly warned: “Don’t talk to the press. We were warned that if they see us talk to the press, they would pick us again. They said they know our homes and everything about us.”

Despite the trauma, the NUP leader declared she has chosen the path of forgiveness.

“But I have forgiven them from my heart because I know this is not my mission, it is a mission from the above, from a mighty power,” she stated emotionally.

Dr Zedriga, who serves as NUP Deputy President for Northern Uganda, was abducted in mid-January 2026 and spent over 40 days in detention before being granted bail by the Gulu Chief Magistrate’s Court on February 24, 2026. She faced charges of incitement of violence.

Her remarks come amid growing calls for accountability over alleged abductions of opposition leaders during the election period. NUP officials have linked her ordeal, and that of other female deputy presidents, to state-sponsored intimidation.

Dr Zedriga vowed to continue her political work undeterred, framing her experience as part of a larger divine assignment for Uganda’s liberation.

The nullification of key provisions of the Computer Misuse Act has been hailed by human rights groups as a major victory for freedom of expression.