KIU, Main Campus - The unprecedented nationwide blackout that delayed President Museveni's COVID-19 address on Tuesday afternoon, 14th April 2020, was caused by water hyacinth. The huge floating vegetation choked the Nalubaale Hydropower Station turbines, causing widespread disruption.

In a statement released by Eskom Uganda, the size of the floating vegetation was equivalent to two football pitches. While talking to the BBC, the power utility company said that pollution and the rise in the water level could have triggered the hyacinth.

"The water level in the lake is currently 13.12m, almost reaching the highest ever last seen in 1964," Simon Kasyate, Spokesperson for Uganda Electricity Transmission said.

He added that they have always managed to handle the plant before and that it caught them unaware on Tuesday afternoon, causing a nationwide power outage that saw the president's COVID-19 broadcast delay for an hour.

Water hyacinth has aways raged havoc on Africa's largest freshwater lake, sometimes covering vast swathes of its surface. The plant blocks out light which dramatically reduces the amount of oxygen hence suffocating fish to death.