of Zimbabweans. On June 4, 2008 the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare wrote all NGOs and private voluntary organizations and announced a full suspension of all their field operations.62 Earlier, Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo had accused local and international humanitarian agencies of breaching their registration terms and conditions. Chombo accused some NGOs of using food distribution programs to support the MDC.63 According to The Zimbabwe Times, on June 15, while addressing a campaign rally in Silobela, Mugabe accused NGOs of using food handouts to overthrow the government.64 The Zimbabwe authorities have failed to provide any evidence to support their allegations that NGOs were in breach of their registration terms and conditions or conducting discriminatory practices in their food distribution programs. In any case, under Zimbabwe’s laws regulating the operations of NGOs, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare does not have the powers to order the suspension of NGOs.65 This raises concerns that the suspension was an attempt to prevent NGOs from witnessing and reporting on the state-sponsored violence that was taking place in the rural parts of the country at the time. It also significantly affected the ability of the NGOs to assist the poor and destitute. The suspension limited the ability of humanitarian agencies to determine the true extent of the food crisis, and assess the future needs of the population. It obliged them to delay responding to the food crisis until after the authorities lifted the formal ban in September 2008. The agencies were therefore forced to conduct registration and verification exercises at the same time as distributing food. Humanitarian agency representatives told Human Rights Watch that this had put a strain on their ability to reach all those in need: The suspension was the period [that] we should have [been able to use] for…registration and verification. The numbers of needy skyrocketed because the crisis was only attended to at the last minute. Our food aid was in South Africa …Because we were suspended we couldn’t bring it in. It takes [time] to 62 “Zimbabwe: Reverse Ban on Food Aid to Rural Areas,” Human Rights Watch news release, June 4, 2008, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/06/04/zimbab19022.htm. 63 Ibid. 64 “State Makes U-Turn on Food Distribution,” The Zimbabwe Times, June 18, 2008, http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=493 (accessed June 18, 2008). 65 Under the Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Act, there is no provision empowering the Minister to order the suspension of NGO or PVO operations. Section 21 of the Act which provided for this eventuality was declared void by the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe. The court ruled that the section was at odds with section 18 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which stipulates that everyone is entitled to protection of the law. See Holland & Ors vs Minister of Public Service, Labout and Social Welfare 1997 (1) ZLR 186 (S). 21 Human Rights Watch January 2009