Statecraft & Independence
Distinguished
Canaan Banana
1936 – 2003
Zimbabwe's first head of state, and the negotiator of the ZANU–ZAPU unity accord
Distinguished is level 3 of 4 in the Zimbabwe Hall of Fame: sustained excellence over a career, widely honoured at home. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A Methodist minister and theologian who became independent Zimbabwe's first president in 1980, and who brokered the 1987 accord that ended the fighting between ZANU and ZAPU.
Canaan Sodindo Banana was a Methodist minister, theologian and nationalist detained repeatedly by the Rhodesian government before independence.
When Zimbabwe became independent in 1980 he was installed as its first president, a largely ceremonial office under a government led by Robert Mugabe as prime minister, and held it until 1987. His most substantial work came as the mediator of the Unity Accord of December 1987, which merged ZANU and ZAPU and ended the fighting in Matabeleland. He wrote extensively on liberation theology, taught at the University of Zimbabwe, and later worked for the Organisation of African Unity in Liberia.
When Zimbabwe became independent in 1980 he was installed as its first president, a largely ceremonial office under a government led by Robert Mugabe as prime minister, and held it until 1987. His most substantial work came as the mediator of the Unity Accord of December 1987, which merged ZANU and ZAPU and ended the fighting in Matabeleland. He wrote extensively on liberation theology, taught at the University of Zimbabwe, and later worked for the Organisation of African Unity in Liberia.
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