"The whole of Te Arawa is in shock," Mr Mohi said.
"She was a Te Arawa icon just like her father."
Mr Mohi said Miss Waaka was involved in too many things to name them all - from MC events to mentoring children, as well as being a talented kapa haka performer.
"She was a true icon of our generation.
"She worked so hard to make everyone else happy."
Mr Mohi said if people needed her, she would drop whatever she was doing for them - and now others were doing that.
People were still in shock at her death and were on their way from around the country and even Australia, he said.
"It still hasn't really hit home. Te Arawa hasn't come to terms with the breadth of loss we have witnessed.
"When you see someone so vibrant and so full of life you think they are bullet proof.
"She just exuded love wherever she went."
He said Miss Waaka loved kapa haka.
"It was not only her passion, she was damn good at it. She was the idol of so many."
He said she performed for "whoever won the fight over her".
"Her preference was to be up the front [of the stage] and everyone's preference was to have her there."
Mr Bidois described her as a "character".
She was a joker, and Mr Bidois said his first thought when he heard the news was that it may have been a trick.
"I thought, you've gone too far now."
"She was vibrant - that's an understatement. She brought life to any room she entered."
He said Miss Waaka knew her audience and was able to have people laughing without having to use profanity.
Mr Bidois described her as very clever and witty, and said she also had "the most wicked sense of style".
Family friend Trevor Maxwell said he was shocked to hear the news.
"I'm deeply saddened. She only lost her father in November.
"If there was anybody who reminded me of Napi it was Jojo. She was like her dad."
Mr Maxwell said Miss Waaka loved her Maori culture and was "such a bubbly person".
"She had talent like her dad. She reminded us all of her dad. Of course she was very talented in the performing arts and singing, and the TV programme she was on."
He described Miss Waaka as having a "sense of performance and stage" and a deep connection to the Maori culture.
"We are still trying to get over the sad loss of her dad."
He said it was particularly devastating because she was so young.
"She just had a beautiful nature, full of laughter and she always seemed happy."
