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Son of Zimbabwe's First President Not Happy About Mother's Fate


Members of the Banana family in a recent photo at home. (Photo: Nathan Sipho Banana)
Members of the Banana family in a recent photo at home. (Photo: Nathan Sipho Banana)

A son of the late former Zimbabwean president, Canaan Banana, says his family has nothing against President Robert Mugabe even though former first lady Janet Banana is being looked after by the British government.

Nathan Sipho Banana, who is now operating businesses in Zimbabwe, says his family has not begrudged Mr. Mugabe for allowing his government to incarcerate the country’s first black president soon after independence from British rule.

Banana says his has moved on despite the stigma associated with his father’s incarceration for sodomy charges.

He further says he is not happy that his mother is being catered for by the British government where she sought political asylum a couple of years ago following the incarceration of her husband.

Banana also tells Studio 7’s Gibbs Dube his father’s incarceration shocked the whole family and remains a dark shadow that has almost obliterated the good works he did before and after independence.

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The late Banana, who was a non-executive president and left the executive arm of the state before the formation of a unity government set up through the merger of then bitter political rivals, PF Zapu led by Joshua Nkomo, and Mr. Mugabe’s Zanu PF in 1997, served eight months of a 10-year sentence after he was accused of sodomizing his aides. He pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of sodomy and related issues.

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