Power utility Zesa Holdings acting managing director Abel Gurupira has been suspended following a power cut incident while President Emmerson Mnangagwa was delivering the State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden, Harare, on Tuesday.
Mnangagwa was forced to complete the Sona, during the official opening of the third session of the 10th Parliament of Zimbabwe, using a torch provided by one of his aides.
In an internal circular doing the rounds on social media, Zesa acting chief executive officer Cletus Nyachowe said Gurupira had been suspended from his duties at the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) unit pending the outcome of investigations into outages “during and preceding state occasions”.
“I am hereby suspending you from duty pending investigations, following a spate of power outages prior to commencement of the Zanu PF conference in Mutare, and during the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on the 28th of October 2025,” read the statement.
“During the period of suspension, you are not to communicate with Zesa Holdings Group of staff.”
Gurupira’s suspension came after the speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda had promised that there would be efforts to find and punish the “culprits” behind the incident.
“We shall go beyond what happened and trace the culprits and deal with them accordingly.
“And those that will be found wanting will regret the day of their existence,” Mudenda told Parliament after the address.
Last year, lights went off during the national budget presentation, leaving government officials including Mnangagwa sitting in darkness.
