Sir Garfield Todd †

Sir Garfield Todd (13 July 1908 - 13 October 2002) died early Sunday morning in the Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo, aged 94. He was admitted to the hospital after suffering a stroke last week.

The Todds came to Zimbabwe as missionaries in 1934, when they assumed the management of the Dadaya Mission station. Sir Garfield was prime minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1953 to 1958, when he was defeated in an election largely because he was seen to be too sympathetic to the cause of political power sharing. He was detained by the Rhodesian government in 1965 and 1972 for his stand against the Unilateral Declaration of Independence and the settlement proposals struck between the Smith government and Britain in 1971.

Since he first came to the country, Sir Garfield was a tireless advocate of human rights causes; not least, despite his very advanced years, his public and outspoken support over the last few years to pro-democracy groups in Zimbabwe. Early this year he won a court case in which the government had denied him the right to vote, saying he was not a Zimbabwean citizen. His wife, Lady Grace, died in late December 2001. He is survived by his daughter Judith. (ZWNEWS)