CIO was trained and worked closely with CIA and MI6

Recently declassified files have confirmed that the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) once operated secret offices in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), aligning with claims made by the late Rhodesian state security chief, Ken Flower. In his memoir, Serving Secretly: Rhodesia's Intelligence Chief on Record, Flower disclosed that Rhodesia's Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) was initially trained by and worked closely with both the CIA and Britain's MI6, officially known as the Secret Intelligence Service.

The files further reveal that the CIA had clandestine bases in several other African cities, including Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa, Lagos in Nigeria, Rabat in Morocco, and Nairobi in Kenya. These covert operations were brought to light through the release of the John F. Kennedy (JFK) assassination archives by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The documents, dating back to the 1960s, confirm that the CIA sought to expand its influence across Africa during a period of widespread decolonization. Many newly independent African nations were navigating Cold War tensions, with both Western and Eastern bloc powers vying for strategic influence on the continent.

The revelations provide further historical context on U.S. intelligence operations in Africa and reinforce long-standing theories that Western intelligence agencies played a significant role in shaping political and security dynamics in various African states during the Cold War era.