Harare - President Robert Mugabe's government will outlaw occupation of state land after reports of fresh farm seizures in eastern Zimbabwe, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a broadcast on Thursday.
Mugabe signed constitutional changes into the law in September, effectively nationalising all white-owned farms that had been seized by his government over the last six years.
In remarks broadcast on state television, Chinamasa said he would present a law in the coming weeks outlawing the occupation of state-owned farms.
"The constitutional amendment provides that an act of parliament can provide for any occupation of state land (to be) a criminal offence, so the piece of legislation that I will bring will make that clear," he said.
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| 'An act of parliament can provide for any occupation of state land' |
Chinamasa was not immediately available to comment on whether the law would be extended to privately owned farmland.
There have been reports in recent weeks of fresh invasions of some remaining white-owned farms in the eastern districts of the country.
Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono has denounced the new invasions, branding the invaders "criminals" and warning their actions may hurt Zimbabwe's already struggling economy; though it is unclear whether his view represents that of the government.
Critics say land expropriations are partly responsible for waning commercial agriculture and food shortages since 2001, as new black farmers battle to raise production amid a lack of funding, agricultural inputs and commercial farming skills.
Mugabe has defended farm seizures as necessary to correct colonial imbalances that left 70 percent of the richest land in the hands of a few white farmers.
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