Ken Flower
Encyclopedia
Ken Flower was of Cornish
extraction and worked for H.M. Customs & Excise before joining the British South Africa Police
in Southern Rhodesia
in 1937. After war service in British Somaliland and Ethiopia he returned to Rhodesia in 1948 rapidly rising in the hierarchy of the BSAP. He studied the Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya and applied his knowledge in the distrubances in Nyasaland in the late 1950s.
Flower was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the BSAP in March 1961 and subsequently served as the first head of Rhodesia
's and later Zimbabwe
's Central Intelligence Organisation. The organisation had been set up by him under Prime Minister Winston Field
in 1963 though the original initiative for such an agency had come from Field's predecessor Sir Edgar Whitehead
. Flower saw himself as non-political, though with a bias against the 'cowboy element' in the Rhodesian Front, as he dubbed it. Ken Flower has been tied to the creation of RENAMO, a militant anti-Communist organization in Mozambique
.
In 1980, when Robert Mugabe
became the first Prime Minister of the state of Zimbabwe
, he kept Flower as CIO boss as well as other top officials in his predominantly black, first administration.
He wrote Serving Secretly: An Intelligence Chief on Record, Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964-1981, published in 1987.
, then-leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union
.
There are allegations that after Ian Smith
unilaterally declared Rhodesia independent
Flower maintained his allegiance to the British government, spying on the Smith administration for MI6.
On 08/01/2011 the BBC Radio 4 program Documents, featured accusations by Lord Owen, of Britain, that Ken Flower had been an MI-6 Mole for Britain during his tenure as head of Rhodesian CIO.
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
extraction and worked for H.M. Customs & Excise before joining the British South Africa Police
British South Africa Police
The British South Africa Police was the police force of the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes which became the national police force of Southern Rhodesia and its successor after 1965, Rhodesia...
in Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
in 1937. After war service in British Somaliland and Ethiopia he returned to Rhodesia in 1948 rapidly rising in the hierarchy of the BSAP. He studied the Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya and applied his knowledge in the distrubances in Nyasaland in the late 1950s.
Flower was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the BSAP in March 1961 and subsequently served as the first head of Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
's and later Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
's Central Intelligence Organisation. The organisation had been set up by him under Prime Minister Winston Field
Winston Field
Winston Joseph Field MBE was a Rhodesian politician. Field was a former Dominion Party MP who founded the Rhodesian Front political party with Ian Douglas Smith. Field was born and brought up in Bromsgrove in the United Kingdom, and moved to Southern Rhodesia in 1921...
in 1963 though the original initiative for such an agency had come from Field's predecessor Sir Edgar Whitehead
Edgar Whitehead
Sir Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead, OBE, was a Rhodesian politician. He was a longstanding member of the Southern Rhodesia Legislative Assembly, although his career was interrupted by other posts and by illness. In particular he had poor eyesight, and wore very thick glasses, and later...
. Flower saw himself as non-political, though with a bias against the 'cowboy element' in the Rhodesian Front, as he dubbed it. Ken Flower has been tied to the creation of RENAMO, a militant anti-Communist organization in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
.
In 1980, when Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
became the first Prime Minister of the state of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, he kept Flower as CIO boss as well as other top officials in his predominantly black, first administration.
He wrote Serving Secretly: An Intelligence Chief on Record, Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964-1981, published in 1987.
Controversy
ZANU militant Fay Chung claims in March 1975 Flower ordered the assassination of Herbert ChitepoHerbert Chitepo
Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo led the Zimbabwe African National Union until he was assassinated on March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says that a former British SAS soldier, Hugh Hind was responsible.Chitepo became the first black citizen of...
, then-leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union was a militant organization that fought against the standing government in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union...
.
There are allegations that after Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
unilaterally declared Rhodesia independent
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)
The Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia from the United Kingdom was signed on November 11, 1965, by the administration of Ian Smith, whose Rhodesian Front party opposed black majority rule in the then British colony. Although it declared independence from the United Kingdom it...
Flower maintained his allegiance to the British government, spying on the Smith administration for MI6.
On 08/01/2011 the BBC Radio 4 program Documents, featured accusations by Lord Owen, of Britain, that Ken Flower had been an MI-6 Mole for Britain during his tenure as head of Rhodesian CIO.