Mnangagwa Reads SONA In Darkness As Power Goes Off In Parliament
The Speaker of Parliament of Zimbabwe, Jacob Mudenda, has issued a fiery threat, vowing that the person responsible for switching off the electricity during President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address will “regret the day he was born.” The dramatic statement was made to fellow MPs after the presidential speech was plunged into near darkness, creating a major disruption during a key national event on October 28, 2025.
According to ZimLive, the power failure struck during the final ten minutes of President Mnangagwa’s address. The outage forced the President to complete his speech under the dim light of a torch held by an aide. The timing and swift restoration of power immediately after he finished speaking raised immediate questions and tempers within the parliamentary chamber.
Chaos And Anger In The Dark
The blackout caused visible chaos and frustration. An aide attempted to persuade President Mnangagwa to stop his speech rather than continue under the makeshift torchlight. The President, however, insisted on finishing his address. Witnesses described him as appearing visibly angry as he departed the chamber immediately after the incident. In the aftermath, Speaker Mudenda offered a formal apology for the embarrassing interruption.
Speaker Mudenda told the assembled MPs, “The person who switched off electricity while the President was speaking will regret the day he was born.”
This is not the first time a crucial parliamentary event has been interrupted by a power outage. A similar incident occurred during a budget speech in November of the previous year. On that occasion, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) attributed the blackout to natural causes. A parliamentary statement at the time explained that “thunderstorms and high winds affected overhead lines, resulting in tripping at a 132kv feeder that supplies power to a substation which feeds power to Mt Hampden.”
A Revealing Twist In The Tale
A subsequent exclusive report revealed a potential administrative failure. Parliament had arranged explicitly for ZESA to act as the standby power source for the important event, with a generator running as the primary source from 12PM. Sources said the generator itself experienced a technical fault at around 2:30PM.
A parliamentary source explained the chain of events, stating, “It appears ZESA engineers turned power on, but engineers from local government took a bit too long to lift the breaker to change the power source back to ZESA.”
This revelation suggests that the blackout resulted from a logistical delay between engineering teams rather than a deliberate act of sabotage. Despite this, Speaker Mudenda continued to publicly pursue a “culprit” for the profound embarrassment caused to the head of state.
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The post He Will Regret The Day He Was Born: Parly Speaker Vows Revenge After Power Cut Off During President Mnangagwa’s SONA Speech appeared first on iHarare News.
