Zimbabwe defying court order to return land, farmers say

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe's government has made no move to implement a Supreme Court order that it evict war veterans illegally occupying white farms, the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) said on Monday.

The court on Friday ordered the government to halt an accelerated program to seize white-owned farms for redistribution to landless black peasants, and to evict illegal occupiers.

But Lands and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said on Saturday the government would ignore the ruling. "There is no going back on the land redistribution exercise," he said.

Self-styled veterans of the former Rhodesia's liberation war and supporters of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party have occupied more than 1,000 white-owned farms since February in a campaign repeatedly sanctioned by Mugabe.

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The government has identified 3,041 of the 4,500 white-owned farms for forced resettlement, and has so far served formal notice on about 2,000 farmers of its intention to seize their land without compensation.

Another 50 or so farms were occupied at the weekend after the court's ruling had been announced, farm sources said.

"Reports received so far show that the acquisition authorities have so far not complied with the order," CFU environmental affairs officer Gerry Davison said on Monday.

"We would expect that now they would confine their resettlement activities to those farms that have been acquired uncontested by the farmers. But there is no indication that that is happening."

Owners of 211 farmers agreed earlier this year to surrender land for resettlement, but little has so far been done to take advantage of the offer.

"In some areas war veterans have indicated that they will not obey the Supreme Court order and will only take their orders from President Mugabe," Davison told Reuters.

On Monday police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said he was not aware of any police moves yet to evict the farm occupants, many of whom say they are simply demonstrating their support for Mugabe's land reform programme.

In its latest update, the CFU said the pace of fast-track resettlement and work stoppages on farms had picked up.

Mugabe has vowed to reject any court order interfering with the land programme -- meant to correct imbalances created by Zimbabwe's colonial history, which left more than 70 percent of the most fertile land in the hands of just 4,500 whites.

The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on the CFU's main application. This challenges the constitutionality of Mugabe's presidential power to seize white-owned farms with no obligation to pay compensation for the land.

Mugabe has said it is up to the former colonial power, Britain, to pay compensation for land, but has agreed to compensate farmers for buildings and improvements.

On Friday, the cash-strapped government officially gazetted a resolution passed in April to pay the first 25 percent of this compensation.

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