During President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address on October 28, 2025, a power outage plunged Zimbabwe’s Parliament into near darkness during the final ten minutes of the speech. The President finished his remarks by torchlight, visibly frustrated, before leaving the chamber immediately afterward.
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda apologized to lawmakers and issued a stern warning, saying the person responsible would “regret the day he was born.” His remarks fueled speculation of sabotage, though later reports pointed to a technical failure. Parliament had arranged for a generator as the primary power source, backed by ZESA as a standby. The generator reportedly failed at 2:30 PM, and a delay in switching back to ZESA—due to slow coordination between engineering teams—caused the blackout.
This marks the second time in a year that a major parliamentary event has been disrupted by power outages. Despite evidence of an operational error, Mudenda maintained his demand for accountability over the incident.
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda apologized to lawmakers and issued a stern warning, saying the person responsible would “regret the day he was born.” His remarks fueled speculation of sabotage, though later reports pointed to a technical failure. Parliament had arranged for a generator as the primary power source, backed by ZESA as a standby. The generator reportedly failed at 2:30 PM, and a delay in switching back to ZESA—due to slow coordination between engineering teams—caused the blackout.
This marks the second time in a year that a major parliamentary event has been disrupted by power outages. Despite evidence of an operational error, Mudenda maintained his demand for accountability over the incident.
