Parliament sidelined ZESA before hired generator failed during Mnangagwa speech

HARARE
–
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
delivered
part
of
his
State
of
the
Nation
Address
(SONA)
under
torchlight
on
Tuesday
after
parliament
officials
chose
to
sideline
the
national
power
utility,
ZESA,
for
a
hired
generator
that
later
failed,
ZimLive
can
reveal.

Mnangagwa
was
opening
the
third
session
of
the
eighth
parliament
at
the
new
Mt
Hampden
building
when
the
lights
abruptly
went
out.

It
has
now
emerged
that
parliament
elected
to
power
the
event
using
a
generator
—
a
decision
taken
to
avoid
a
repeat
of
last
November’s
embarrassing
blackout
during
the
national
budget
presentation.

According
to
parliamentary
sources,
ZESA
supply
was
deliberately
switched
off
at
midday,
with
the
generator
taking
over.
The
system
failed
shortly
after
2.30PM
as
Mnangagwa
neared
the
end
of
his
speech.
An
automatic
switch-over
to
ZESA
did
not
occur
because
engineers
from
the
local
government
ministry
had
not
correctly
set
the
breaker,
sources
said.
The
problem
was
eventually
corrected
manually
after
more
than
five
minutes.

As
security
aides
scrambled,
Mnangagwa
appeared
to
decline
advice
from
a
security
aide
to
stop
his
address,
and
possibly
vacate
the
building.

With
a
flashlight
in
hand,
an
aide
stood
beside
the
83-year-old
leader,
illuminating
his
speech
as
he
read
on.
Power
was
restored
moments
after
he
concluded.

Mudenda
apologised
to
the
president
and
hinted
at
sabotage.

“It
is
proper
that
we
apologise
to
His
Excellency
the
President
and
the
House
for
the
electricity
outage,”
he
told
MPs.
“It
had
been
arranged
that
there
would
be
an
automatic
switch-over
if
there
was
either
a
problem
with
ZESA
or
the
generator.
We
will
go
beyond
what
happened
and
trace
the
culprits
and
deal
with
them
accordingly.
Those
that
will
be
found
wanting
will
regret
the
day
of
their
existence.”

A
letter
obtained
by
ZimLive
confirms
that
parliament
had
instructed
the
local
government
ministry
to
employ
a
generator
for
the
event,
with
ZESA
as
a
standby
power
supplier
for
the
SONA.
“It
is
noted
that
there
is
an
approved
arrangement
to
run
the
event
using
the
generator
as
the
primary
source
of
power
with
ZETDC
power
on
standby
following
previous
power
disruptions,”
acting
clerk
of
parliament
Nomasonto
Audrey
Sunga
wrote
to
local
government
secretary
John
Bhasera
on
October
21.

Parliament
directed
that
the
generator
be
“serviced,
fully
tested
and
confirmed
fit
for
uninterrupted
operation,”
with
ZESA
engineers
required
to
be
on
site
for
immediate
response.

Zimbabwe
continues
to
face
crippling
power
shortages,
with
many
households
and
businesses
enduring
blackouts
lasting
more
than
five
hours
a
day.
There
was
no
suggestion
that
ZESA
was
responsible
for
Tuesday’s
failure.

In
the
November
2024
incident,
ZESA
blamed
“an
act
of
nature”
after
thunderstorms
and
strong
winds
tripped
a
132kv
feeder
line
supplying
Mt
Hampden.

Government
spokesman
Ndavaningi
Mangwana
downplayed
the
latest
mishap,
calling
it
a
testament
to
Mnangagwa’s
resolve.

Posting
a
photo
of
the
president
reading
under
torchlight,
Mangwana
wrote
on
X:
“DETERMINATION
PERSONIFIED.
Even
a
power
outage
couldn’t
stop
a
determined
President
Mnangagwa
from
fulfilling
his
constitutional
duty.
A
single
torchlight
in
the
dark
parliament
became
a
powerful
symbol
of
his
tenacity.”