Power outage disrupts SONA, President Mnangagwa completes speech using torchlight

By Staff Reporter President Emmerson Mnangagwa was on Tuesday forced to complete his State of the Nation Address (SONA) using a torchlight after the New Parliament Building was plunged into darkness.
The unexpected blackout disrupted proceedings for several minutes, leaving the National Assembly in confusion.

Some ruling party legislators shouted that the incident was an act of sabotage, while others murmured in disbelief.

Unfazed, Mnangagwa continued reading his speech for nearly 10 minutes in the dark, earning applause from ZANU PF lawmakers for his composure.
Power was restored shortly after Mnangagwa concluded his speech.
It was not immediately clear whether the power outage was caused by load-shedding or a technical fault.
“We see it proper that we apologise to the President for the power outage. We shall go beyond and chase the culprit,” the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, said.
This is the second time such an incident has occurred during the President’s address.