Free Republic

Canaan Banana, clergyman, politician and rapist, died on November 10th, aged 67 HIS life merits little more than a footnote in Zimbabwean history, but footnotes can be illuminating. Canaan Banana was Zimbabwe's first black president, serving as head of state for seven years after independence in 1980. It was a ceremonial post, however: real authority lay with the prime minister, Robert Mugabe. For much of his time in office, President Banana's job was to look dignified at posh events, such as Prince Charles's wedding to Lady Diana Spencer. His light workload left him with plenty of time for his hobby,...

YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS - The Reverend Canaan Banana, 1936-2003It would be remiss of me not to note the passing last week of the Reverend Canaan Banana, and not just because he has a funny name. It is, of course, deplorable to make cheap gags about a fellow because of his handle (I seem to remember a Monty Python thing from years ago announcing that “Mr Arthur Penis is changing his name by deed poll to Mr Art Penis”). But, when the Reverend Banana became the first President of Zimbabwe in 1980, the citizenry seemed reluctant to accord His...

Canaan Banana, the colourfully-named former president of Zimbabwe who died on Monday aged 67, became his country's first black head of state in 1980 following the bloody and prolonged war of independence that toppled Ian Smith's white-only regime; but his career ended in disgrace 18 years later when he was convicted and jailed for sodomy.Although not well-known outside Southern Rhodesia before independence, Banana had had an honourable career as an opponent of the Smith regime, and as a radical theologian. He served as the country's president, a largely ceremonial position, from March 1980 to December 1987, when he was effectively...