Mnangagwa Finishes SONA By Torchlight As Power Cut Hits Parliament

A power cut struck at the New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden while President Emmerson Mnangagwa delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Tuesday.

With the lights suddenly going out towards the end of his speech, Mnangagwa was forced to continue under torchlight, held by an aide, to complete the final ten minutes.

Despite the interruption, the president insisted on finishing his address, dismissing his aide’s suggestion to pause. Power was restored immediately after he concluded.

It remains unclear whether the outage was due to load-shedding or a technical fault. This is the second time such an incident has occurred during a major parliamentary address.

During last November’s budget speech, the lights also went out, with ZESA attributing the outage to “an act of nature.”

Parliament later explained that thunderstorms and high winds had affected overhead lines, causing a trip at a 132kV feeder supplying the substation that powers Mount Hampden.

Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda apologised to the president and hinted at the possibility of sabotage, though no confirmation was provided. Said Mudenda:

“We see it proper that we apologise to the President for the power outage. We shall go beyond and chase the culprit

“The person who switched off electricity while the President was speaking will regret the day he was born.”

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