Zimbabwe Annuls NGOs as Protesters Mass at the Border

Reports that Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu has annulled the registration of all NGOs active in the country have been greeted with dismay by civil society representatives.

"Twenty-seven years after Zimbabwe welcomed democracy and justice, the current government has marked this Independence Day by clamping down on peaceful NGOs -- the same organisations that work to protect human rights, reduce poverty and encourage the betterment of Zimbabwean society," said Clare Doube, manager of the Civil Society Watch programme at the Worldwide Alliance for Citizen Participation (Civicus), in reference to the emergence of the reports ahead of Zimbabwe Independence Day on Wednesday.

Civicus is a network of civil society organisations; it is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"Rather than engaging these active and passionate citizens in ending the current economic and social crisis, the government is attempting to silence them," Doube added, in an April 17 statement put out by Civicus.

Zimbabwe is currently battling runaway inflation, high unemployment and shortages of essential goods -- blamed by some on government's economic mismanagement. The country is also experiencing political repression that has resulted in widespread human rights abuses and a number of flawed elections.

State-controlled television was quoted as saying that the annulment was aimed at identifying "agents of imperialism from genuine organisations working to uplift the well-being of the poor".