The White Lion of Zimbabwe Sir Garfield Todd

Best known as a gentle and noble man, one who saw beyond colour and a man who lived amongst the people.
Todd emigrated to Southern Rhodesia from New Zealand in 1934 as a Protestant missionary and ran the Dadaya New Zealand Churches of Christ Mission school. One of the primary-school teachers in his charge was Robert Mugabe. Though he had no formal medical training, Todd and his wife, Grace, set up a clinic where he delivered hundreds of babies (some who were named after him) and treated minor injuries.



Todd settled at the Hokonui ranch in Zvishavane and his love for Zimbabwe and revolutionary cause began there. He became prime Minister of Rhodesia on September 1953 and introduced modest reforms aimed at improving the education of the Black majority by taking tax-money paid by Rhodesian property owners and appropriations from the British colonial authorities, and directing it toward black schools. His government introduced a plan to give elementary education to every African of school age. He doubled the number of primary schools and gave grants to missionary-run schools to introduce secondary school and pre-university courses for Blacks.

Todd also introduced the appellation "Mr" for Blacks instead of "AM" and he banned white people from calling their black domestic workers, boy!.

During the latter years of his reign as Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Sir Garfield Todd moved to lower property and education qualifications, but this was rejected and it caused an uproar from the then, Rhodesian government who all plotted his removal as prime Minister and the instillation of Edgar Whitehead as his replacement ,Winston Field and then later on Ian Smith.

An outspoken and unpopular opponent of Iain Smith's racist government, Todd weathered 15 years of bloody civil war, including imprisonment and prolonged house arrest. whilst his daughter Judith Todd was in the UK campaigning for sanctions and pressure on the Rhodesian government. His daughter was also the one who published the Gukurahundi massacres to the outisde world at that time, and she was one of the few who were there and spent their last minutes with Lookout Masuku when he was imprisoned. This is where Garfield Todd's relationship with Mugabe deteriorated, Mugabe by the way, had been a primary school teacher at Todd's school in his earlier years and this is what Mugabe once said of the man. "I remember how little the Todds were paid - £2 a month - and how I borrowed a book from Grace Todd, who had at one point to sell her filing cabinet and a leopard skin to raise money for teachers' salaries because the total income from school fees only amounted to 30 shillings a year." Sir Garfield Todd was made Senator when Mugabe took over the country and quietly rightly so, as he had contributed his life to the struggle and liberation of Black Africans. When his daughter began revealing Gukurahundi, his family was victim of life threats and harassment by the ZANU government of Robert Mugabe and it was not only the Todds and ZAPU who suffered as political at that time, Ndabaningi Sithole had to run away in exhile at that time. Sir Garfield Todd had to organise a meeting with Mugabe as he felt that the life of his wife, and daughter was in danger, Mugabe gave his word that he would discuss with his army commanders to stop.

During retirement, He donated 3,000 acres to guerrillas disabled in the war for independence and who farmed the land for many years as the Vukuzenzele co-operative and his daughter Judith.

Mugabe later stripped Todd of his citizenship when he heard 3 schools in Bulawayo had been named after him and refused to let him cast his vote during the 2002 election and the man who had sacrificed his own life and his own political career in the quest for votes for Africans, was now not allowed to cast his vote. He died later that year on 13 October 2002, 2 years after the passing of his wife Grace.

It was during Garfield Todd's death that the government decided to declare him a national hero. Todd's daughter, Judith, said that declaring her father a hero would be inappropriate and an embarrassment because he abhorred the ruling Zanu (PF) 's "suppression of democracy, erosion of civil liberties, assassination of opposition officials and supporters, arrests and torture, and the climate of fear spread throughout the country"
There is saying in this day "Gore redzidzo". It is a year of learning indeed.

The ANC had Joe Slovo. We had Garfield Todd. Rest in Peace Sir Garfield Todd, the White Lion of Zimbabwe
Cde Cakes