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eventREF E-0095387Revised

Event record

Dr Canaan Sodindo Banana is selected as the first President of the newly independent Republic of Zimbabwe

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

  1. 01Boddy-Evans, A., ‘This Day in African History: 11 April’, from About African History, [online], Available at africanhistory.about.com [Accessed: 18 March 2013]
  2. 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: 2 September 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 2 September 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 2 Sept. 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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