“Circuit breaker supplying load tripped” – Parliament in damage control after blackout during Mnangagwa’s SONA

Preliminary investigations have revealed that a circuit breaker supplying the load tripped, causing a power outage at the new Parliament Building during President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Parliament has said.

The unexpected blackout forced Mnangagwa to complete his address using torchlight before electricity was restored approximately ten minutes later.

This is the second power outage to occur at the Parliament Building in Mnangagwa’s presence. The first incident took place during Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s 2025 National Budget Presentation in November last year, which the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) attributed to “natural causes.”

Despite prior arrangements to ensure backup power, the latest blackout still occurred, prompting Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda to hint at possible sabotage.

Mudenda warned that the “culprit will regret the day of their existence.”

Now in damage control mode, Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda released a statement explaining the technical cause of the outage.

“The loss of power supply to key systems occurred when the Parliament Building was running on a generator as the main source of supply, with ZESA power as a standby. When supplies were lost, the generator was still running but not supplying power.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that a circuit breaker supplying the load had tripped. The restoration took longer than expected, resulting in part of the SONA being delivered without power,” Chokuda said.

Parliament said it is working with the Ministry of Local Government, ZESA, and other relevant government agencies to investigate the incident. The findings will be made public once investigations are complete, and measures will be put in place to prevent a recurrence.