HARARE, Zimbabwe — The government will ignore a Supreme Court ruling that declares its land reform program illegal, a government minister said Saturday.
The Supreme Court said Friday the government has failed to observe legal steps required by laws surrounding the land reform program, which aims to nationalize 3,000 white-owned farms by year's end for resettlement of landless blacks.
The court said the government had failed to give farm owners at least three months advance notice of seizings and that it had failed to assess and pay compensation for improvements, such as roads and irrigation.
Zimbabwe's Land and Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told state radio that was inaccurate.
"We have been doing that all along," he said.
Made said the government would continue its program despite the court's ruling.