Ken Flower

Ken Flower was of Cornish extraction and worked for H.M. Customs & Excise before joining the British South African Police in Southern Rhodesia in 1937. After war service in British Somaliland and Ethiopia he returned to Rhodesia in 1948 rapidly rising in the hierachy 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. [ Megahey, Alan 'Humphrey Gibbs - Beleaguered Governor' London 1998 Page 99 ] Ken Flower has been tied to the creation of RENAMO, a militant anti-Communist organization in Mozambique.Alao, Abiodun. "Brothers at War: dissidence and rebellion in Southern Africa", 1994. Page 45.]

In 1980, when Robert Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of the state of Zimbabwe he kept Flower and Ken Norman, ex-President of the Commercial Farmers Union, in his predominantly black, first administration.Matthews, Robert O. "Civil Wars in Africa: Roots and resolution", 1999. Page 226.]

He wrote "Serving Secretly: An Intelligence Chief on Record, Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964-1981", published in 1987.

Controversy

In March 1975 Flower ordered the assassination of Herbert Chitepo, then-leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union.Fay Chung and Preben (INT) Kaarsholm. "Re-living the Second Chimurenga: Memories from the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe", 2006. Page 95.]

There are allegations that after Ian Smith unilaterally declared Rhodesia independent Flower maintained his allegiance to the British government, or at least the Queen, spying on the Smith administration for MI6.Preston, Matthew. "Ending Civil War: Rhodesia and Lebanon in Perspective", 2004. Page 134.] The fact that Sir Humphrey Gibbs, the Governor of Rhodesia at the time of UDI, and treated shabbily by the illegal Smith Government, wrote the forward to "Serving Secretly" and referred to him there as 'my friend Ken Flower' lends credence to this view.

Ken Flower has been linked to the deaths of the following:
- Rhodesian Minister in London (G Pincus), a member of Ian Smith's delegation.
- Josiah Tongogara in Mozambique, a member of Mr Mugabe's delegation, using British SAS (Andy McNab, Bob Consiglio & co.)
- Samora Machel, Head of State, Mozambique 1986.
- Olof Palme, Head of State Sweden 1986, in Stockholm, using non-English speaking ex-Rhodesian Secret Service.

Ken Flower conducted his business through Devuli Ranch (Rhodesia), via satellite transmission. The device was delivered by US Colonel Robert K. Brown and US Colonel Oliver North and arranged by Louis Mountbatten in 1978 (who at that time was a spin doctor in London.)
Ken Flower also has to his credit, genocide, downing civilian airlines, killing and making heads of state and perfecting the art of staging suicides and accidents.Fact|date=September 2008

Known associates:
- Former US Secretary Henry Kissinger
- Robert Mugabe from '78 via satelite transmission by Sally Hayfron, the late wife of Robert Mugabe - Louis Mountbatten, after his death Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Ken Samler (spelling), Ken FLower's right hand man
- Godfrey Price, Director of Security appointed by Robert Mugabe

References