THE RISE AND DOWNFALL OF Infamous First Zimbabwean Black President Who Was Rumored to Be A Homos3xual And Serial Rap!st.
In almost every country, when the head of state dies, he or she is given a befitting burial worthy of being the heroes that they are perceived to be. It’s sad to say that not all heads of state get this kind of treatment especially if they failed as leaders. One such head of state is Canaan Banana, the first of Zimbabwe.
You see when Canaan Banana reportedly died of cancer in 2003, he was not given a hero’s burial that senior ruling party members normally received. This was not due to the fact that only was Canaan Banana a serial rap!st but also because it had become publicly known that he was a homos3xual shortly after Robert Mugabe, who was then the prime minister condemned the practice and called such people “worse than dogs.” Mr Banana renounced this position in 1987 when Robert Mugabe, the then prime minister, became executive president.
READ: Gun that killed Billy the Kid 140 years ago on sale at auction for staggering £2.2million
Childhood & Early Life of Canaan Banana
Canaan Banana was born on March 5 1936, in Essexvale, Southern Rhodesia. His father was a migrant who had emigrated to Rhodesia (the former name of Zimbabwe). After acquiring his early education from the missionaries at a local school, Banana went on to become a teacher by enrolling himself at the Tegwani Training Institute. In 1962, he earned his diploma in theology from the Epworth Theological College in Salisbury. In that same year, he was ordained as a United Methodist Minister. Canaan Banana also studied at the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C from 1974 to 1975.
Banana’s Career
After attaining his degree, Banana took up teaching positions at various institutions such as Epworth Theological College, Kansai Industrial Centre, Wesley Theological Seminary, and the University of South Africa. Banana did not resign himself to just teaching and soon delved into the country’s political affairs when the independence struggle at that time intensified. He later became the chairman of the Bulawayo Council of Churches from 1969 to 1970.
From 1970 to 1973, Banana also served as a member of the Southern Africa Urban Industrial Mission. In 1972, Canaan became a founding member and vice president of the African National Council led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, a position which he served until 1973. As a member of the ANC, he represented the political organisation in the United States and United Nations. Having conflicting opinions compared to Bishop Abel Muzorewa, in the latter half of the 1970s, Banana joined ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union), led by Robert Mugabe which worked profoundly to dethrone Ian Smith’s government.
Ian Smith was the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe at that time. During the struggle, Reverend Banana used his pulpit to condemn the white regime of what was then Southern Rhodesia, writing statements and even reportedly putting down an updated version of the Lord’s Prayer, with lines such as “Our father who art in the ghetto…
Teach us to demand our share of the gold/Forgive us our docility/As we demand our share of justice.” Even though the Zimbabwean authorities were not pleased with his words and actions, he still received praise from many black leaders who were part of the liberation movement. When he became a member of Mugabe’s party, Zanu PF, Banana was picked as the party’s main leader when the country gained independence. In 1980, Banana became the country’s first black president, stepping down in 1987 so that Mugabe, who reformed the presidency from a ceremonial office into an executive one, could succeed him.
Banana’s Downfall And Sodomy Scandal
Unfortunately for Banana, his struggles and commitment to get the white supremacist regime out of office were, however, surpassed by a scandal that shook his last years in administration, destroyed his reputation, career and ended his marriage. Rumours about Banana’s private s3x life and hobbies spread like wildfire that included rap!ng his male servants. However, these rumours went public only in 1997 when one of his victims, his bodyguard spoke out.
36-year-old, Jefta Dube, who was then on trial for the murder of a colleague, had pleaded in justification that the man he shot had embarrassed him by calling him “Banana’s wife”. Dube told the court that during his service to Banana in the mid-1980s, the president had repeatedly rap£d him. He recounted that the first time it occurred, Banana played cards with him, and spiked his drink with drugs. Dube then claimed he woke up on the carpet of the State House library with no trousers on and was greeted by a smiling president who said: “We helped ourselves.” Although Banana denied the allegations, many more people accused him of similar acts, including a cook, a gardener, a policeman, and even his own students from the University of Zimbabwe, where Banana was a professor of theology.
READ: People Warned Her Not To Marry This Man, She Refused And Today The Story Has Changed
Canaan Banana tied the knot with Janet Mbuyazwe in 1961. The couple was blessed with three sons and a daughter, namely, Michael Thabo, Nathan Sipho, Martin Mhambi Salaam, and Nobuhle Beauty. Despite the evidence against him, Banana insisted that he was not a homos3xual and said the accusations against him were part of a “malicious vendetta”. After standing by her husband through his trial, Mrs Banana left Zimbabwe for Britain, where she sought refuge. In 1998, Canaan Banana was convicted of 11 counts of “sodomy” and “unnatural acts”.
However, before his sentence, Banana fled the country due to the fear that Mugabe might have him killed. Upon advice from former South African President Nelson Mandela, Banana returned to Zimbabwe. Banana served only eight months of a ten-year sentence after he was given an early release due to good behaviour. Regardless of this, Banana’s trial and conviction, unfortunately, tarnished the image of a statesman who had previously been showered with praises for brokering the Unity Accord of 1987 which brought an end to the country’s Matabeleland massacres. It was said that there were even plans to have Banana serve as a mediator between President Mugabe and opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, after the antagonistic election of March 2002 but this did not happen.
DO YOU HAVE ANY NEWS YOU WANT TO REPORT? CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND SUBMIT YOUR NEWS FOR PUBLICATION ON TOKTOK9JA
WATCH MORE NEWS ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
Professional freelancer and webmaster.
+ There are no comments
Add yours