Zimbabwean Methodist minister and theologian, Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana was selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe. He was officially inaugurated on 18 April of the same year. Banana held the largely ceremonial post of president of Zimbabwe from 1980, when the country gained independence, until Prime Minister Robert Mugabe pushed through constitutional changes in 1987 that created an executive presidency. In 1998, after a highly publicized and controversial trial, Banana was convicted of homosexual assault and other “unnatural acts” and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with 9 years suspended. Eventually he served eight months.
eventREF E-0095387Revised
Event record
Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe
Dr Canaan Banana source: www.brucecarleton.com
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019
Dr Canaan Banana source: www.brucecarleton.com
How we know this
- 01Boddy-Evans, A., ‘This Day in African History: 11 April’, from About African History, [online], Available at africanhistory.about.com [Accessed: 18 March 2013]
- 02Mental Acrobatics, (2003), ‘Dr Canaan Banana’, from Mental Acrobatics, 12 November, [online], Available at www.mentalacrobatics.com [Accessed: 18 March 2013]
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2013, April 5). Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095387
South African History Online (2013) 'Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe', South African History Online, 5 April. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095387 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).
South African History Online, Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095387, (accessed 22 October 2026).
"Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe." South African History Online, 5 Apr. 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095387. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe." South African History Online. April 5, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095387.
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