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Canaan Sodindo Banana ( 5 March , 1936 – 10 November , 2003 ), a Zimbabwe an Methodist minister, was the country's first President . He held the largely ceremonial office from 18 April 1980 to 31 December 1987 , during which time his eventual successor Robert Mugabe served as prime minister and was the dominant figure in the Zimbabwean government. He took a diploma in theology at Epworth Theological College in Harare and was ordained in 1962 . He became involved in politics and rose to be vice-president of the African National Council . When many Council members were arrested in the late 1960s , Banana and his family fled to the United States and did not return until 1975 . Banana was arrested upon his return and remained in prison until 1979 , after the Lancaster House Agreement . Banana played a big role in bringing the two major groups of independence fighters ZANU and ZAPU together to form Zanu-PF . This was essential in order for the agreement to be signed. Under the new constitution Banana became the first president in 1980 . In 1982 a law was passed forbidding citizens from making jokes about his name. In 1987 his post was taken over by Mugabe, who made himself executive president. Banana became a diplomat for the Organisation Of African Unity and head of the religious department at the University Of Zimbabwe . In 1996 he was arrested in Zimbabwe on charges of Sodomy , following accusations made during the murder trial of his former bodyguard, Jefta Dube . Banana was found guilty of eleven charges of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault in 1998 . He fled to South Africa while on bail before he could be imprisoned, apparently believing Mugabe was planning his death. He returned to Zimbabwe in December 1998 , after a meeting with Nelson Mandela . Banana was sentenced on January 18 , 1999 to ten years in jail, nine years suspended and he was also defrocked. He served two years in prison before being released in January 2001 , and died of cancer in 2003 , in London . He was buried in Zimbabwe without the full honours expected to be accorded a former head of state. He married Janet (b. 1938 ) in 1961 and they had four children. His wife sought asylum in Britain in October 2000 . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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