Henriette Wamu Atamina (born 1966) is a politician and media executive from the
Democratically Republic of the Congo. She is a member of parliament in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
.
Life
Henriette Wamu was born on 28 March 1966 in
Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...
. Originally from
Sankuru
Sankuru is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Sankuru, Kasaï-Oriental, and Lomami provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Kasaï-Oriental province. Sankuru ...
,
Wamu was educated at the Sacred Heart High School in
Gombe, Kinshasa
Gombe (formerly known as Kalina), also known as La Gombe, or Downtown Kinshasa, is one of the Communes of Kinshasa, 24 communes of Kinshasa, in the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Encompassing a vast area of approximately 29 ...
. Leaving DRC to study in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, she started studying physiotherapy at ISCAM, then started again in business at the
Lucien Cooremans Institute in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, gaining a degree in accounting in 1989 and a license to practice accounting in 1994. From 1998 to 2002 she was Commercial Director of the television channel
Télé Kin Malebo (TKM). In 2003 she began managing another private television channel in Kinshasa, CMB DIGI.
Wamu was elected deputy for
Funa District in the
2006 general election.
In 2008 Wamu also became naturalized as a Belgian citizen. Though she was re-elected in the
2011 general election, her 2018 candidacy was initially rejected on the grounds she did not have exclusive Congolese nationality. However, the Constitutional Court ruled her candidacy legitimate,
[ and she was again re-elected in the 2018 general election.][ She is also chair of the DRC Parliamentary Caucus of the Israel Allies Foundation (IAC). In November 2020 she founded the Alliance for the Reform of the Republic (A2R), member of the group of allies of the ]Union for Democracy and Social Progress
The Union for Democracy and Social Progress (, UDPS) is a major political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Founded in 1982, amid the one-party rule of Mobutu Sese Seko and his Popular Movement of the Revolution, it is the co ...
(UDPS), to "play the avant-garde role of standard bearer within this group". She called for a bill to raise Étienne Tshisekedi
Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba also Known as Tshisekedi The Father (14 December 1932 – 1 February 2017) was a Congolese politician and the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), formerly the main opposition political pa ...
, father of the current DRC President Félix Tshisekedi
Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has served as the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since 2019.
He was the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Demo ...
, to be recognised as 'father of democracy' in DRC.[
Pourelle.info included Wamu in their 2021 list of fifty inspirational women.]
References
External links
Henriette Wamu Fondation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wamu, Henriette
Members of the National Assembly (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo women politicians
21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo politicians
1966 births
Living people