Parliament has issued a formal apology to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the nation after an embarrassing power outage at the New Parliament Building during the conclusion of Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s 2025 national budget presentation on Thursday.
The incident occurred when Mnangagwa was escorted out of the Chinese-built facility in darkness as the backup generators took time to activate.
ZESA spokesperson George Manyaya immediately explained that the outage was due to a fault caused by lightning, clarifying that it was “an act of nature” and not load shedding, as some had speculated on social media.
In an official statement, Parliament apologized to Mnangagwa, explaining that thunderstorms and strong winds had impacted overhead power lines, triggering a fault at a 132kv feeder.
This disruption caused a power loss at a substation supplying electricity to Mt Hampden and surrounding areas, including the Parliament building, around 3:25 PM.
The Parliament also noted that the building’s standby generator was affected by the power surge, resulting in the generator losing its memory settings.
The incident came at an inopportune time, with national and international attention focused on Zimbabwe’s economic challenges and the government’s efforts to address them through the national budget.
Zimbabwe has faced persistent power shortages, leaving businesses and households without electricity for extended periods.
While these power outages are often attributed to falling water levels at Lake Kariba, the country’s primary source of hydroelectric power, Thursday’s incident highlighted the ongoing failure of authorities to provide sustainable solutions to the crisis.
