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Sir Reginald Stephen Garfield Todd (13 July 1908 – 13 October 2002) was a liberal Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1953 to 1958 and later became an opponent of white minority rule in Rhodesia.
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 and treated minor injuries. His ranch, Hokonui, was named after the Hokonui Hills in his home province of Southland. A daughter of Southlanders, The Southland Times, 31 January 2009
From 1955 to 1960, Todd served as first vice-president of the World Convention of Churches of Christ.
He also introduced the appellation "Mr" for blacks instead of "AM" ("African Male") and ended the prohibition on the sale of alcohol to black residents of the reserves, who were allowed to drink European beer and wine, though not spirits.
Todd pushed a bill through the Legislative Assembly, allowing for multiracial trade unions, thereby undercutting the growing white nationalist influence in the unions. Lastly, in a bid to increase the number of blacks eligible to vote from 2% to 16% of the electorate, he moved to lower property and education qualifications, but this was rejected.
In response, Todd's ministers resigned en bloc, and following the appointment of a new cabinet, his party forced him out of power; three months later, he was replaced as party leader and Prime Minister by Edgar Whitehead. Sir Garfield Todd – Liberal Rhodesian premier brought down over black reforms, The Guardian, 14 October 2002
In a farewell statement, he said "We must make it possible for every individual to lead the good life, to win a place in the sun. We are in danger of becoming a race of fear-ridden neurotics – we who live in the finest country on Earth." The Politics of Partnership, Patrick Keatley, Penguin Books, 1963, page 250
In addition to prime ministership, Todd was Minister of Finance and several other portfolios. He was granted retention of the title The Honourable in October 1958, for having served more than three years on the executive council.
In 1984, Todd's daughter, Judith Todd, was raped by a senior officer in Mugabe's military on his orders, after she criticised the genocide of Ndebele civilians, the traditional opponents of Mugabe's own tribe. Berger, Sebastien (9 July 2007). "Robert Mugabe critic 'raped'". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2017. She became a strong critic of the regime of Robert Mugabe. "Mugabe was rotten from the start". The Sunday Times. 23 September 2007. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008.
During retirement, Todd donated of his ranch to former guerillas who had been maimed in the Rhodesian Bush War. Nonetheless, Todd's criticism of Mugabe intensified and, in 2002, he was stripped of Zimbabwean nationality. He died, aged 94, on 13 October 2002, in Bulawayo.
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