The Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe has issued an apology following a power outage that disrupted the State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa on Monday, 28 October.
In an official statement, Parliament expressed “sincere regrets” over the loss of power during the President’s address and extended apologies to both the Head of State and the nation. The incident occurred while the Parliament building was operating on a generator, which was serving as the main source of power supply during the proceedings.
According to preliminary findings, the interruption was caused by a tripped circuit breaker that was supplying the building’s electrical load. “When supplies were lost, the generator was still running but not supplying power,” Parliament said in the statement.
The power failure left parts of the SONA being delivered without electricity, affecting lighting and some key systems within the Parliament building. Restoration of power reportedly took longer than anticipated, disrupting the live broadcast and proceedings for a short period.
Authorities confirmed that the building had been operating on generator power at the time, with the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) line on standby. The disruption occurred despite the generator being functional, raising concerns about technical faults or equipment malfunction.
Parliament assured the public that investigations were underway to establish the cause of the malfunction and prevent future occurrences. “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,” the statement said.
Officials also pledged to put in place corrective measures to strengthen power backup systems within the Parliament complex and ensure reliability during future national events.
The State of the Nation Address, which forms part of the official opening of Parliament, continued despite the power interruption, with President Mnangagwa proceeding with parts of his speech in limited lighting conditions.
