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Power restored at Muhimbili’s Children’s Building after 18-hour outage
What you need to know:
- The outage, which began on the night of Sunday, May 25, left patients—particularly those undergoing life-saving dialysis procedures—without access to critical care for several hours.
Dar es Salaam. Electricity supply has been restored at the Children’s Building of Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) after an 18-hour blackout that severely disrupted dialysis treatment and other essential services.
The outage, which began on the night of Sunday, May 25, left patients—particularly those undergoing life-saving dialysis procedures—without access to critical care for several hours.
Speaking to The Citizen’s sister paper, Mwananchi on Monday, May 26, 2025, MNH Head of Communications and Public Relations Aminiel Aligaesha confirmed that power was restored at 4:10pm.
“Electricity was restored at the Children’s Building about 10 minutes ago, and services have resumed. Patients in urgent need of care had already been relocated to other buildings, while dialysis patients were transferred to nearby hospitals for treatment,” he said.
Ilala Regional Manager for Tanesco, Regina Mvungi, also confirmed that repairs had been completed and power restored. She noted that the fault which caused the prolonged blackout had been identified and handed over to Muhimbili for further management.
Earlier, Aligaesha had explained that the building is supplied with electricity through a three-phase system. Two of the phases failed initially, followed by the third, causing a total blackout.
He said Tanesco responded promptly, working alongside hospital technicians to identify the fault. Although electricity was briefly restored, the backup generator supplying the building also malfunctioned shortly after.
As a result, dialysis services at MNH were severely disrupted, with patients left without treatment for extended periods. Many began to experience worsening symptoms, including leg swelling, abdominal bloating, and vomiting.
The patients, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, said the power went out at around 9pm on Sunday. A generator was activated but failed within a short time.
By around 1pm on Monday, the hospital had begun relocating dialysis patients to other facilities, including Regency, Hindu Mandal, and additional private hospitals.
Dialysis treatment involves the use of machines to perform the kidney’s role of filtering waste, toxins and excess fluids from the blood. It is essential for patients whose kidneys are no longer functioning properly or have failed entirely.
