Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Photo: Supplied
The Zimbabwe Electricity and Distribution Company suspended its managing director after a power outage in parliament on Tuesday, during which President Emmerson Mnangagwa delivered 10 minutes of his State of the Nation address (Sona) in the dark.
Abel Gurupira will go on effective forced leave, the power company said in an internal memo.
However, he will enjoy his full benefits and not maintain contact with any of his colleagues until an investigation is wrapped up.
The Clerk of Parliament, Kennedy Chokuda, said initial investigations point to a circuit breaker failure.
“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 [Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority] power as a standby. When supplies were lost, the generator was still running but not supplying power,” he said.
“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.”
However, Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda suspected foul play.
“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,” Mudenda told parliament.
The matter has generated jokes on social media.
Some dubbed it “when the state of the nation address meets the state of the nation”, a reference to the country’s decades-long electricity shortages.
Others wondered why the recently commissioned Mount Hampden parliament operated without solar backup.
Last year in November, during the budget presentation by finance minister Mthuli Ncube, there was a power outage which was blamed on a thunderstorm.