Human rights activist Judith Todd (60) said on Wednesday she had been forced to forgo her Zimbabwean citizenship in order to obtain a New Zealand passport and be able to travel.
Todd, daughter of former reformist Rhodesian prime minister Sir Garfield Todd, had fought a two year battle with Zimbabwean officials who claimed she had not renounced a claim to New Zealand citizenship through her father.
They therefore refused to renew her Zimbabwean passport. She feared President Robert Mugabe’s government may now attempt to revoke her rights of residence in Zimbabwe, where she was born, and expel her.
Todd is a shareholder in the independent Daily News, repeatedly shut down earlier this year despite winning a series of court cases giving it permission to continue publication. Its premises were invaded by armed police, staff were detained and computers seized in defiance of judges’ rulings.
”Frankly, I am worried not only about my own well being but about every person who is living in this country, because i think the next year will probably see the unleashing of viciousness that we have not yet experienced,” said Todd. – Sapa-DPA