Zimbabwe has cancelled the licences of all aid groups, accusing them of working with the Opposition to oust President Mugabe.

Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, the Information Minister, said that all nongovernmental organisations had been deregistered and would have to reapply for permits.

He said that the authorities wanted to identify groups working with “agents of imperialism” to overthrow Mr Mugabe, who is facing growing resistance from Zimbabweans impoverished by his 27-year stranglehold on power.

“Pro-opposition and Western organisations masquerading as relief agencies continue to mushroom, and the Government has annulled the registration of all NGOs in order to screen out agents of imperialism from organisations working to uplift the wellbeing of the poor,” Dr Ndlovu said.

The news shocked the local NGO community, stoking fears that the ban could stop desperately needed food aid reaching the country. More than 1,000 aid groups operate in Zimbabwe.

Six years of poor harvests after Mr Mugabe began his chaotic programme of white land seizures in 2000 have left hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans dependent on hand-outs, mainly from foreign-fund-ed NGOs. Last month alone 1.5 million Zimbabweans were given food aid by the UN World Food Programme, which uses local NGOs to distribute supplies.

Analysts linked the cancellation of NGO licences to the hasty rescheduling of parliamentary and presidential elections to early next year.

The President will begin his Zanu (PF) party’s election campaign at Independence Day celebrations in Harare today, when he is likely to blame Zimbabwe’s crushing economic crisis and worsening shortages of fuel, power and foreign currency on “illegal” Western sanctions.

John Makumbe, a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe said that the Government wanted to have a monopoly on food distribution.

“With the elections coming the Mugabe Government has to stop NGOs from distributing food. Then it can use food as a political weapon to garner support,” Dr Makumbe said.

Lovemore Madhuku, a prominent rights campaigner and chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, said: “It’s obvious. It’s to intimidate the population.”

In 2004 Zanu (PF) party pushed through legislation in parliament that was to ban all groups dabbling in rights issues and outlaw foreign funding. Inexplicably, Mr Mugabe decided not to sign the Bill into law. But after a brutal clampdown last month on dozens of opposition officials that provoked international condemnation, the authorities appear determined to silence aid groups once and for all.

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