Power went off during an examination at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in the Great Hall.
UZ acting registrar Munyaradzi Madambe Thursday confirmed the development adding that there was darkness for a brief moment, according to NewsDay. He said:
We had a series of power outages on December 6, 2022. It’s unfortunate that someone decided to be mischievous by taking that picture during the 30 seconds transition from Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) electricity to generator power. All our venues have backup power. It is also important to note that we have a dedicated ZESA power grid, so we hardly have power cuts, unless there is a fault, of which Zesa would always expeditiously attend to.
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) secretary-general Joseph Nyamayaro refuted Madambi’s claims saying there was darkness for about 15 minutes during the examination. He is quoted by NewsDay as saying:
The UZ is taking students for granted. However, it is the State that is actually disrespecting students because it is a shame that its higher education institutions have increased fees, but cannot provide simple things like generators for students during examinations.
To say the blackout during the examination happened for a few seconds is mere propaganda. One cannot take a picture of a blackout in seconds. Even if electricity was later restored, they cannot restore the damage that students experienced. During an examination, the mind and body should be in sync. This rot in electricity and water service delivery has severely affected students.
Zimbabwe is experiencing a huge power deficit which is expected to intensify in the following weeks after the Zimbabwe Power Company was ordered to scale down operations at the Kariba South Hydropower Station to allow water to refill at Kariba Dam.