President consoles Banana family

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has consoled the family of Zimbabwe’s first President, Canaan Sodindo Banana, following the sudden death of his eldest son, Michael Banana.

Mr Banana, collapsed and died in Liverpool, the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

In a statement, President Mnangagwa said Mr Banana’s death was a blow as it came as he was on the brink of surgery for heart related complications.

“I received with great shock and sadness news of the sudden death of Michael Banana, on Tuesday in the United Kingdom. Michael was the eldest son of our late first president Cde Canaan Sodindo Banana. What makes Michael’s end so sad and painful is that he has already scheduled for a minor procedure to correct a heart ailment,” President Mnangagwa said.

He gave praise to the late Mr Banana for his service to the Air Force of Zimbabwe, where he was one of the country’s pioneering pilots who also fought during country’s military operation in Mozambique.

“We remember the young Michael for the commitment and faithful service he rendered to his country among the pioneering crop of the Air Force of Zimbabwe. As a pilot, he served in the Mozambique campaign. On behalf of Zanu-PF, Government and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to express my sincere condolences to the Banana, especially his mother, Mama Janet Banana, our inaugural First Lady. May they be consoled by our collective prayers and grief as a nation. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” President Mnangagwa said.