Commonwealth Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Central African Department...

FCO 29

1966-1969

This series contains records of the Zambia, Malawi and Southern Africa Department of the Commonwealth Office and its immediate predecessors, dealing with United Kingdom and Commonwealth relations with Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and Portuguese south Africa, and its successor in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for relations with Malawi, Zambia and Congo (Kinshasa).

By former file reference

For earlier Commonwealth Office and Commonwealth Relations Office files dealing with relations with Malawi see DO 208

For earlier Commonwealth Office and Commonwealth Relations Office files dealing with relations with Zambia see DO 209 DO 212 DO 213

For earlier East Africa Department files dealing with South Africa, the former High Commission Territories and Portuguese South Africa see:

NR file series

Public Record(s)

English

• Commonwealth Office, Malawi Department, 1967-1967
• Commonwealth Office, Zambia and Malawi Department, 1967-1968
• Commonwealth Office, Zambia Department, 1967-1967
• Commonwealth Office, Zambia, Malawi and Southern Africa Department, 1968-1968
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Central African Department, 1968-1969

376 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

In 1999 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Africa

Following the unilateral declaration of independence by Rhodesia, the relations of its former partners in the Central African Federation were dealt with by separate departments of the Commonwealth Relations Office, and then the Commonwealth Office. The Malawi Department and the Zambia Department were merged into a single Zambia and Malawi Department as the volume of work relating to their business reduced.

The department was expanded to include Commonwealth Office relations with South Africa, the former High Commission Territories (Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland) and the Portuguese colonial territories of Angola and Moçambique, as the Zambia, Malawi and Southern Africa Department, taking over responsibilities formerly held by the East Africa Department of the Commonwealth Office. On the formation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in October 1968, the Department was abolished, its functions passing to the Central African Department and the Southern African Department. The former of these was additionally responsible for relations with Congo (Kinshasa). The Central African Department continued until July 1969 when it was absorbed into the Central and Southern African Department.