{"id":"canaan-banana","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/canaan-banana","language":"en","name":"Canaan Banana","name_en":"Canaan Banana","name_ne":null,"description":"1st President of Zimbabwe (1936-2003)","headline":"1st President of Zimbabwe (1936-2003)","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Canaan Sodindo Banana was a Zimbabwean Methodist minister, theologian, and politician who served as the first President of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987. He was Zimbabwe's first head of state, a ceremonial president, after the Lancaster House Agreement that led to the country's independence. In 1987, he stepped down as president and was succeeded by Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, who became the country's executive president. In 1997, Banana was accused of being a homosexual, and after a highly publicised trial, was convicted of 11 counts of sodomy and \"unnatural acts\", serving six months in prison.","summary_more":[],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"5 March 1936","date":"1936-03-05"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Esigodini","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1367662"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"10 November 2003","date":"2003-11-10"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"London","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q84"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P20"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"Zimbabwe","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q954"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"politician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82955"},{"text":"university teacher","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1622272"},{"text":"priest","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42603"},{"text":"diplomat","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193391"},{"text":"theologian","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1234713"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P106"}},{"key":"party","label":"Political party","values":[{"text":"Zimbabwe African National Union","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q203427"},{"text":"Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1910161"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P102"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"Kansai University","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1149393"},{"text":"Wesley Theological Seminary","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7984013"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Janet Banana","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6153177"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P26"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"President of Zimbabwe (18 April 1980 – 31 December 1987)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19056184","start":"1980-04-18","end":"1987-12-31"},{"text":"president","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1255921"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711#P39"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan_Banana","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Canaan Banana born?","a":"Canaan Banana was born on 5 March 1936 in Esigodini."},{"q":"What positions has Canaan Banana held?","a":"Positions held by Canaan Banana include: President of Zimbabwe (1980–1987); president."},{"q":"Where did Canaan Banana study?","a":"Canaan Banana was educated at Kansai University, Wesley Theological Seminary."}],"related":[{"name":"Herbert Chitepo","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/herbert-chitepo"},{"name":"Robert Mugabe","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/robert-mugabe"},{"name":"Emmerson Mnangagwa","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/emmerson-mnangagwa"},{"name":"Phelekezela Mphoko","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/phelekezela-mphoko"},{"name":"Donald Trump","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/donald-trump"},{"name":"Ronald Reagan","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/ronald-reagan"},{"name":"Abraham Lincoln","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/abraham-lincoln"},{"name":"George W. Bush","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/george-w-bush"},{"name":"Mustafa Kemal Atatürk","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/mustafa-kemal-ataturk"},{"name":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/franklin-d-roosevelt"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/canaan-banana-4447383c31.jpg","width":120,"height":132,"license":"CC BY 4.0","credit":"Khamenei.ir","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canaan_Banana.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Canaan Banana","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan_Banana","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q313711","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313711","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Canaan Banana.jpg by Khamenei.ir (CC BY 4.0)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canaan_Banana.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Canaan Banana, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Canaan Banana.jpg — Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0.","cite":"\"Canaan Banana\". DigiNepal. Last updated 3 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/canaan-banana. Retrieved 6 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-11-03T08:54:07Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-06","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/canaan-banana","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/canaan-banana","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/canaan-banana?lang=ne"}}