Tinotenda Hove – President Emmerson Mnangagwa was left in darkness at Parliament in Harare on Tuesday while delivering his State of the Nation Address, following a sudden power outage that interrupted proceedings.

This marked the second time the President has been embarrassed by a blackout during a national address at Parliament.

In a statement issued after the incident, the Parliament of Zimbabwe expressed deep regret and extended an official apology to the Head of State and the nation.

“The Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe sincerely regrets the loss of power supplies during the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa, today on the 28th of October, and offers sincere apologies to His Excellency, the President, and to the Nation of Zimbabwe,” read the statement signed by Clerk of Parliament, K.M. Chokuda.

According to the statement, the Parliament building was operating on a generator as the main power source, with ZESA supply on standby. However, the system failed unexpectedly.

“The loss of power supplies to key systems occurred when the Parliament building was running on a generator as the main source of supply with ZESA supply as a standby. When supplies were lost, the generator was still running, but not supplying power. Preliminary investigations indicate that a circuit breaker supplying the load had tripped,” the statement said.

The Parliament further explained that the restoration process “took longer than expected, resulting in part of the SONA being delivered without power supply.”

Chokuda confirmed that Parliament, together with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, ZESA, and other government agencies, are conducting a joint investigation into the embarrassing incident.

“The Parliament of Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, ZESA and other Government Agencies are investigating the incident and will report to the Nation what transpired, as well as put in place measures to avoid recurrence,” Chokuda said.