Former First Lady Janet Banana dies
Mrs Janet Banana (83), the widow of the late former President Canaan Banana, has died.
According to reports Mrs Banana died early Thursday morning at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo.
Mrs Banana served as the first First Lady of Zimbabwe from 1980 until 1987 and had four children with her late husband.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration in 2019, bought her a brand new Ford Everest car and made a commitment to pay for her medical bills on top of other benefits after she returned to Zimbabwe after an 18-year stay in the United Kingdom.
All former First Ladies are entitled to certain packages.
In 1988, Canaan Banana was convicted of 11 counts of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault, all stemming from incidents with young bodyguards, gardeners and cooks assigned to him when he was President from 1980 to 1987.
This prompted Banana’s wife and family, including son Michael, to seek political asylum in Britain in October 2000 but the other son Nathan has been fighting relentless to clear his father of the sodomy charges claiming he was a victim of political machinations.
Late former president Robert Mugabe described Banana senior as “a rare gift to the nation” when he died in 2003.
Last year, Michael, the other son of Banana, collapsed and died in the UK.
Michael was investigated by the Stockport Council in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom (UK) for benefit fraud in an alleged scam involving his wife, a £95 000 winner on the Deal Or No Deal television game show in 2013.
