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Thanksgiving Service for the Lives of Sir Garfield and Lady Todd,
St.Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, 13th February 2003

Among tributes paid at the service, those by Judith Todd,
Lawrence Vambe and Bishop Jim Thompson are reproduced below.
(The text of Dr. Thoko Matshe's unscripted tribute is not available)
Further notes about the service follow after the tributes.

Judith Todd:

They adored each other and exulted in all the lovely things of life. Family, friends and acquaintances were of great importance as was the lifeblood of communication over long distances and great stretches of time. They would have been glad to use this occasion to pay tribute to the loyalty and steadfastness through difficult times of their friends, and also to acknowledge the pleasure, satisfaction and fun there has been in abundance over the years.

Their energy was fuelled by love, compassion, good humour and, above all, straightforward kindness. They couldn't bear to see people suffering and unfulfilled and did what they could to improve every situation that confronted them in all the different fields in which they worked - education, building, practical medicine, agriculture, animal husbandry, gardening, domestic science and, along the way, politics.

They were honest and direct. It was difficult to delude them, difficult to get them to compromise about anything important and absolutely impossible to get them to collaborate with evil. That was why they suffered in both Rhodesia and Zimbabwe.

They remained valiant to the end, my father boldy declaring before the presidential election last March: "I am horrified by the destruction of our economy, the starving of our people, the undermining of our constitution, the torture and humiliation of our nation."

My mother could not bear to see my father dishonoured. We were glad, therefore, that she did not know of his disenfranchisement. But I know that she would have been proud of his response. When told that he had been stripped of his citizenship and his vote he did not try to evade the truth. No. He did not say, "This is an African problem for which there must be an African solution." No. He went and confronted the situation directly himself. Although nearing 94 and rather shaky he went down to the polls to vote. He got just as close to the ballot box as he physically could before he was turned away.

They would have been glad were it somehow possible for us all to send our support to and our praise for all those who, in their different capacities, are struggling today to lead Zimbabwe from the darkness and into the light. As my father said, only ten months ago: "Just as we stood with courage against the racism of the past so, today, we must stand with courage against the terror of the present."

Thank you, one and all, on behalf of my parents and myself, for making this occasion possible.

The Rt Revd Jim Thompson

GOSPEL IMPERATIVE CELEBRATION OF The Hon Garfield and Lady Grace Todd

It is inevitable that we have concentrated on the loss we have all experienced , and the tragic situation in Zimbabwe , but it's important that we always remember the lovely humour which bubbled over in the love between Garfield and Grace .In 1965 I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks at Hokonui . It changed my life. After a rather sombre journey through East Africa we arrived in all the fun, the faith and the hope of the Todd home. I remember as we sat down to a meal, a jolly debate started between Garfield and Grace as to whether 'thanks' had already been given. As the humming bird whirred outside the window, Garfield gave in and solemnly bowed his head paused and said, "We thank you Lord a second time…

In the middle of house arrest, in Garfield and Grace, I found an incarnation of the Christian faith I longed for. Gospel conviction and Gospel action - Christ's love as the cornerstone of their life and work together …….. courageously facing isolation from the white community, danger from the police ……. seeing the Africans as equals, working to establish multi-racial justice. They were not interested in ecclesiastical niceties (I even hesitated to wear my Anglican robes), but rather they were excited by life itself. They were not watching the river like spectators, but swimming in it. Garfield found the radical R.C. theologian Hans Kung an inspiration - he seemed to express what Garfield and Grace believed… what they had learnt from the Church of Christ. One of their favourite sayings of Jesus was "I have come that they may have life - life in all its abundance", and that's what we tasted at Hokonui. The only time cupboards were locked was when the white police came. We also witnessed the first division of their own land for their African co-workers. When the politicians complained that politics and religion didn't mix, he called it the rankest nonsense. "The only politics that doesn't mix with religion, is the kind which does not serve truth, justice and right, and the fundamental value of the individual."

Garfield was so proud of Grace, and I somehow know they will be smiling at us now. He said of her "she has probably made a greater contribution to native education than any other person in the land." These sentiments were powerfully affirmed at Grace's funeral… even by the government minister. Together they faced the Gospel imperative to the end of their days. I so much wanted to follow their way - for at the heart of it all was LOVE…. For God, for each other, for their neighbour - and, unlike so many, they saw their neighbour! It was love at the individual level, and in its corporate form of justice and freedom.

Having seen the freedom from colonialism, they witnessed its loss to the tyranny of corrupted power. Their Pilgrims' Progress led into the struggles and dangers of Godless dictatorship - even to the ultimate rejection of Garfield's citizenship. He went to vote in the dignity of the Cross. His faith was not an insurance policy, but the crucible of ultimate hope. The lives of Garfield and Grace, - their truthfulness, courage and integrity, will be a cornerstone of the new Zimbawe which will emerge. These horrors will in the end be seen as the death throes of Mugabe's tyranny. The Faith, Hope and love of these two great disciples of Christ will endure and be ultimately victorious.

Lawrence Vambe:

At 86, which is my exact age in 3 weeks time, I must be right in claiming the distinction of having known the late Sir Garfield and Lady Grace Todd longer than did any other Zimbabwean in this gathering.

I DO COUNT it a great privilege to have KNOWN these two remarkable Zimbabweans. Indeed once I felt that I had got their true measure on the scale of human values, I never ceased to admire and esteem them unreservedly.

BUT I am not the only one who put them on the highest pedestal in the special circumstances of our most unhappy and ill-fated country.

GARFIELD TODD, in particular, became a household name among countless numbers of my people from as far back as the end of the Second World War. As I remember all too vividly, they called him "MUDA VANHU" meaning "HE WHO LOVES AND RESPECTS THE AFRICAN PEOPLE."

NO GREATER HONOUR could have been or was ever bestowed on any other White Rhodesian. Certainly not in my memory.

IT WAS the most fitting COMPLIMENT to him for his outstanding record as a MISSIONARY, EDUCATOR and POLITICIAN, who battled with so much conspicuous courage and conviction for the human and political rights of an underprivileged people.

GARFIELD TODD entered Parliament in 1946, the same year that I became a journalist on the staff of the AFRICAN NEWSPAPERS GROUP. Thus, I was privileged to follow closely his political career and vision.

WHEN HE became PRIME MINISTER in 1953, the men and women who called him "MUDA VANHU" were filled with GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

SO WERE WE in the AFRICAN PRESS GROUP, of which I was now EDITOR IN-CHIEF --- 7 publications, which catered for some 9 million Africans in the then Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

WE backed TODD to the hilt, without being obsequious and uncritical. And, I will add that all journalists, of whatever colour or point of view, could not have asked for GREATER PRESS FREEDOM OR ACCESS TO THE P.M. and his MINISTERS.

REGRETTABLY, THIS OPTIMISM WAS SHORT LIVED.

THE FIRST CHALLENGE came from a small group of very angry young men who decided that time had come to start storming down the EDIFICE OF WHITE RULE.

They formed in 1956 the S.R.A.N. CONGRESS, with J. Nkomo as President. Then they staged a mass boycott of the buses used by Africans in the City of Salisbury.

THERE WERE RIOTS and those who attempted to disregard the boycott were badly assaulted.

EARLY THAT MORNING in 1956, I rushed to the main bus station in the HARARE AFRICAN TOWNSHIP. Where it had all began.

WHAT A SCENE OF DESTRUCTION I SAW!

YET MY ATTENTION was drawn to the very sad-looking, lonely figure of the PM, come to see for himself. I was speechless, till he greeted me first. "How very sad," he said to me, to which I could only agree

WHITE RHODESIANS simply did not enter black ghettoes. BUT TODD THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY.

WISELY, TODD did not panic and react with draconian measures against the AFRICAN CONGRESS, though he used sharp words, even threats.

NEVERTHELESS GARFIELD TODD LOST POWER ALL TOGETHER in January 1958, when all 4 of his Senior Ministers rebelled and resigned on the ostensible grounds that he was autocratic and interfered far too frequently in their respective responsibilities.

WE AFRICANS , BITTERLY SHOCKED, PREFERRED TO BELIEVE THAT TODD
WAS BEING DITCHED BECAUSE OF HIS PRO-BLACK AGENDA. FROM THEN
ON, WE FLOCKED TO THE BANNER OF THE ANC.

HOWEVER, one has to admit, with the wisdom of hindsight, that this enforced departure from power at this juncture was perhaps a blessing in disguise for Garfield Todd.

AFRICAN NATIONALISM WAS ON THE MARCH AND UNSTOPPABLE as his successor Whitehead was soon to find out.

TODD RETIRED to his flourishing Dadaya Mission and ranch, but not from the general politics of the country.

AS WE ALL KNOW Garfield Todd took an uncompromising stand against the Declaration of Independence by Smith in 1965. Firstly, he was restricted to his farm in order to prevent him from leaving the country for Britain, then in 1971, he was actually imprisoned for two months, after which he was placed under restriction for 4 years. Lastly, he was arrested and charged for supplying food and a car to African guerrillas near his farm. Just then Lord Soames took over as Governor and had these charges dropped.

AT INDEPENDENCE, Mugabe recognised Todd's contribution to the African struggle for majority rule and appointed him SENATOR.

IN DUE COURSE Mugabe abolished the Senate. By then Garfield was becoming more and more alarmed by ZANU(PF)'s misrule, rapid descent into unbridled corruption as well as destruction of the once vibrant economy of Zimbabwe.

HE SPOKE OUT, loud and clear.

MUGABE WHO ONCE PREACHED RECONCILIATION, PROCEEDED TO BE
PARTICULARLY SPITEFUL AND STRIPPED GARFIELD TODD, THE COUNTRY
IS FORMER PRIME MINISTER, OF HIS ZIMBABWEAN CITIZENSHIP.

I FOUND THAT UTTERLY REVOLTING.

Zimbabwe has already been reduced to a heap of rubbish by the so-called "FREEDOM
FIGHTERS"

MY TRIBUTE TO GARFIELD TODD IS THIS. HE WAS MY SPECIAL KIND OF
FREEDOM FIGHTER BECAUSE HE FOUGHT WITH CLEAN HANDS AND A
PURE HEART SO THAT ZIMBABWE WAS FIT FOR ALL HUMAN BEINGS TO
LIVE IN FREE FROM FEAR, HUNGER AND OPPRESSION.

About the Service (adapted from notes compiled by Susan Paul):

The service was sponsored and arranged by the Britain Zimbabwe Society in association with the Royal Commonwealth Society and others from the media, charity & Commonwealth interests.

Mbira music presented by Chartwell Dutiro greeted the congregation as it gathered in St Martin-in-the-Fields. The photograph on the Order of Service (reproduced above) was taken on Cynthia's Wedding Day in 1970. The thanksgiving service was conducted by Bishop Jim Thompson, a personal friend of the Todds. Judith Todd is their daughter. Lawrence Vambe was Editor-in-Chief of African Newspapers Limited in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, in the 1950s and 1960s, and later a Central African Federal Civil Servant in London. He is the author of "From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe" and "An Ill-Fated People". Dr. Thoko Matshe is an ex-Dadayan, and presided over the National Constitutional Council in Zimbabwe a few years ago.

Readings were by Russell Marshall, New Zealand High Commissioner in London; Don McKinnon, Commonwealth Secretary General; the Revd Dr David Thompson, President of the World Convention of the Churches of Christ; Mr Edgar Moyo, Vice-President of the Britain-Zimbabwe Society; Susan Paul, biographer of Garfield Todd; and Revd Vuli Mkandla, a Zimbabean resident in Britain

A Torch Ceremony concluded the service. The idea for this came out of remarks made by an old friend of the Todds', Kingsley Dinga Dube at the Memorial Service for Garfield in Bulawayo on the 25th October and at his funeral at Dadaya on the 27th October 2002. "If you younger generation will try to follow the example of the Todds, problems such as the ones we face today in our beautiful Zimbabwe will be avoided... The Todds are gone but they have bequeathed to us all a rich legacy. It should guide the youth in sharing great tasks in the service of the nation...." and "Garfield would like us all, particularly the younger generation, to ready ourselves for rebuilding our beautiful Zimbabwe..."

The Bishop lit a torch before the altar and handed it to a young Zimbabwean, the aptly named Forward, who walked slowly down the aisle, flanked by two other young Zimbabweans, Amy and Blessing.

There was a retiring collection for "Emthunzini Wethemba", a Home for Bulawayo street children run by David Ndoda, of whom Garfield has written: "An outstanding young man all his years at Dadaya, who then joined the Salvation Army and, heroically, with his wife runs this home". The amount collected was sufficient to provide the Home with a much-needed truck.

Following the service - attended by about 500 people - there was a reception at the Royal Commonwealth Society - also well-attended and a very happy occasion, at which messages from those unable to be present were read out by Professor Terence Ranger, President of the Britain-Zimbabwe Society.

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