Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa stormed out of Parliament on Tuesday as a power outage disrupted the final moments of his State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Mt Hampden parliamentary complex.
The blackout forced the president to continue under torchlight, with aides helping him finish the speech before he exited visibly frustrated.
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda later apologised to the president and the House, promising to “chase the culprit” responsible for the disruption.
Mudenda told MPs, “It is proper that we apologise to His Excellency the President and the House for the electricity outage. Those that will be found wanting will regret the day of their existence.”
According to reports, the outage occurred despite arrangements for a hired generator and standby support from the state power utility, ZESA Holdings.
Mudenda suggested that the failure of the backup system was inexplicable, adding that the person responsible would be held accountable.
Witnesses said an aide attempted to stop Mnangagwa from continuing without light, but the president insisted on finishing his address under torchlight, before leaving the chamber in apparent anger.
This is the second time in a year that a major parliamentary event has been disrupted by a power failure.
Last November, lights went out during the national budget presentation, which ZESA attributed to thunderstorms and high winds that tripped a 132 kV feeder line supplying Mt Hampden.
The incident has reignited debate over Zimbabwe’s energy infrastructure, with concerns over possible sabotage or mismanagement of power arrangements for high-profile state functions.
The blackout has cast further attention on the reliability of electricity supply during critical government proceedings, raising questions about accountability and planning.