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 Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe — Dr Canaan Banana source: www.brucecarleton.com

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.

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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

Cite this entry

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: 23 July 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 23 July 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 23 July 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.