Huggins maintained his enthusiasm for air power when he became the first prime minister (1953-56) of the semi-independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland also known as the Central African Federation (CAF) comprising Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Despite efforts to broker a consensus, black and white Rhodesians complained that the pace of reform was too slow or too fast and by 1961, it became clear that the Federation was doomed.