Judith Todd

Judith Todd (born 1943) is daughter of Garfield Todd (1908–2002), Rhodesian Prime Minister 1953-8, and a political activist regarding Zimbabwe. She had been married from 1974 for ten years to Sir Richard Acton.

She was a political activist from the early 1960s opposing the minority government of Ian Smith. She was arrested in 1972 together with her father and expelled from the country becoming a persona non grata. She relocated to London. In 1978 she was among the founding members of Zimbabwe Project Trust, a humanitarian organization connected to the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded to help Zimbabwean refugees. Her exile lasted until all detentions were lifted in February 1980 under the process leading to the independence of Zimbabwe. The trust relocated from London to Zimbabwe and Todd was appointed director, a position she held until 1987. The trust's focus shifted to humanitarian aid, especially relocation and training of liberation war ex-combatants.^[1][2]

She became a strong critic the regime of Robert Mugabe.^[3] After an unsuccessful candidature for a seat in parliament for the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) she worked as a journalist. She was a founding shareholder of the Daily News newspaper in 1999, the paper was banned in 2003.^[2] Also in 2003 Todd was stripped of her Zimbabwean citizenship.

Publications

• An Act of Treason: Rhodesia (1965) ISBN 978-0582609693
• The Right To Say No (1972) ISBN 978-0283979170
• Through the Darkness: A Life in Zimbabwe (2007) ISBN 978-1770220027

References

External links

• Through the Darkness: A Life in Zimbabwe, Todd's book at Google Books
• "Sir Garfield Todd: Liberal Rhodesian premier brought down over black reforms" - Obituary in The Guardian.
• Website of the Zimbabwe Project Trust