Canaan Banana's son opens up

Nathan Banana, the son of former Zimbababwean President Canaan Banana has opened up on a number of issues relating to his father including Gukurahundi and his relationship with ZANU PF.

In a statement commemorating his father's memorial, Banana said:

The 10th of November is my late father s Memorial.

My late father was a member of Zanu PF who stepped down from office before the end of his second Presidential term to facilitate peace and unity between the two liberation political parties Zapu and Zanu.

I saw the move as just a political strategy by Mugabe and Zanu to consolidate power as Zapu had the potential to become a formidable opposition party because of it's strong national structures.

My personal reflection of the 1987 Unity Accord in spite of it being seen as a major achievement in ending the so called 'moment of madness' , is that it benefited the top leadership of Zapu alone whilst leaving the people from the region victims of the new system of government.

My honest view on the revelations that were uncovered after my late father left office, is that they were politically motivated. This came at a time when my late father was trying yet another peace making initiative between MDC and Zanu PF but was seen as a 'mutengesi' meaning sell out for being seen frequently in the company of opposition President Morgan Tswangirai.

I am not trying to defend his case that he denied but served but just sharing my own view from information received from various high level sources over the years. The public defamation campaign that followed is part reason our family was forced into migration and to live away from a country that my parents made sacrifices to liberate.

We returned to normal civilian lives in spite of some nations ensuring that the welfare needs of such high profile families were given the attention deserving of such dignified status.

For me the challenge was living with such a high status label yet not reflective of my way of life. Many citizens from Zimbabwe even up to today still do not believe that we were never beneficiaries of tax payers money because of the life styles they saw Mugabe and his family live.

Who knows perhaps it was also a tribal motivated agenda as some of my friends suggested. Credit can not be given to a Ndebele President, well most people did not know that Banana was of Ndebele origin because he was a nationalist statesman who treated every citizen equally.

Facts are stubborn, there was far more patriotism and economic stability during his term of office even though he was not an Executive President.

My entry into Zimbabwe politics was inspired by his proactive servant leadership examples in almost all sectors of Zimbabwe.