Canaan Banana is remembered in public life for work that changed what came after it.
The record lists Canaan Banana as 1st President of Zimbabwe (1936-2003).
Canaan Banana was born at Esigodini in 1936. His recorded nationality is Zimbabwe. He was educated at Kansai University and Wesley Theological Seminary.
Twentieth-century politics was conducted under the shadow of two world wars, decolonisation and the Cold War, and broadcast to electorates that could watch it happen.
The offices held were President of Zimbabwe (1980–1987) and president.
His political affiliation is recorded as Zimbabwe African National Union and Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front.
His name is attached above all to to the country's independence. The test of a public life is what remained possible afterwards that had not been possible before.
That the career was made in Zimbabwe is not incidental: the institutions available, the franchise, and the constraints of the moment all shaped what could be attempted.
Canaan Banana died in 2003, aged 67. The assessment continues, as it does for anyone who held power - which is the ordinary fate of a political life.
Achievements
- President of Zimbabwe (1980–1987)
- president
- Educated at Kansai University and Wesley Theological Seminary
