ZITF organisers apologise after blackout keeps Chiwenga waiting

BULAWAYO
–
Organisers
of
the
Zimbabwe
International
Trade
Fair
apologised
on
Wednesday
after
a
15-minute
power
cut
delayed
Vice
President
Constantino
Chiwenga’s
speech
during
a
business
conference.

Industry
and
trade
minister
Mangaliso
Ndlovu
had
just
invited
Chiwenga
to
address
the
Zimbabwe
International
Business
Conference
when
the
room
suddenly
went
dark.
Chiwenga
remained
in
his
seat.

Power
returned
briefly
after
five
minutes
but
it
went
off
again.
Electricity
was
finally
restored
from
a
backup
generator
about
10
minutes
later.

Ndlovu
immediately
offered
an
apology.

“I
want
to
sincerely
apologise
to
our
guest
of
honour
(Chiwenga)
for
the
technical
fault
we
are
experiencing
and
want
to
extend
the
same
apology
to
you
all,”
the
minister
told
the
attendees,
among
them
foreign
delegates.

ZITF
chairman
Busisa
Moyo
later
issued
a
statement
explaining
what
happened.
He
blamed
the
blackout
on
an
“unexpected
fault
on
the
power
line
into
the
fairgrounds.”

“We
seem
to
be
experiencing
an
overload
on
the
normal
power
line.
The
conference
backup
generator
from
ZETDC
that
had
been
running
since
morning
also
developed
a
technical
fault.
The
ZETDC
technicians
worked
to
resolve
the
technical
fault
and
restored
power,”
Moyo
said.

“The
ZITF
board
and
management
wish
to
apologise
for
the
inconvenience
caused.
Efforts
to
upgrade
our
facility
into
a
smart
city
includes
solarising
all
our
exhibition
halls.”

Moyo
added
that
“everybody
said
‘we
forgive
you’.”

Chiwenga
made
no
reference
to
the
power
outage
during
his
speech.

Zimbabweans
are
enduring
power
cuts
lasting
up
to
eight
hours
daily
due
to
depressed
generation
blamed
on
low
water
levels
at
Kariba
and
machine
breakdowns
at
Hwange.

The
65th
edition
of
Zimbabwe’s
premier
trade
showcase
is
running
from
April
21
to
26.

The
official
opening
by
Mozambican
president
Daniel
Chapo
is
set
to
be
held
on
Friday.