Zimbabwe's farm seizures 'legal'

Seizure of white-owned farms is legal, the court ruled

Zimbabwe's supreme court has upheld the law used by the government to seize farms owned by white farmers under the land reform programme.

The court rejected a challenge brought by a farmer, George Quinnell, who lost his farm two years ago.

Mr Quinnell said there had been a procedural violation of the Land Acquisition Amendment Act when it was passed and it should be overturned.

Thousands of white farmers have been dispossessed in the land seizures.

'Unconstitutional'

President Robert Mugabe said the seizures were necessary to redress the balance of ownership.

Four out of the five judges said technical issues did not affect the validity of the law.

Mr Quinnell's lawyers had argued that the law was unconstitutional as parliamentary procedures had not been followed when it was introduced.

They had also criticised giving farmers 45 days to leave their land, instead of the 90 days stated in the original law.

The judges said on the 45-day notice that "public interest" had overridden the "private interests of individual landowners".

After the hearing, Mr Quinnell and his wife told correspondents they had been left with no means to make a living after their eviction.

The land reform programme has been criticised for disrupting the country's food supplies.

This week MPs warned Zimbabwe is set to run out of food before next year's harvest.

The Zimbabwean Supreme Court has twice in the past rejected legal challenges to the land law.