Zimbabwe to speed up land seizure

From the BBC today.

Zimbabwe's government has tabled a constitutional amendment bill to speed up the acquisition of white-owned land.
The proposals would nationalise all land and stop appeals to the courts.

Some 4,000 white farmers have been evicted from their land since 2000, but the government says legal battles are slowing up the transfer of ownership.

President Robert Mugabe's party gained the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed for constitutional change in March's disputed elections.

Passport confiscation

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who introduced the bill to parliament, told the AFP news agency that the legislation would "conclude the land question".

Other proposed constitutional amendments include the creation of an upper house of parliament, the senate and bringing all schools under state control.

Authorities would also be able to confiscate passports and impose travel bans on people thought to pose a risk to state interests.

Zimbabwe is beset with shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, and rampant unemployment and inflation, which government critics blame on the seizure of land.

The government blames food shortages on drought and economic sabotage by Western countries, led by the UK, opposed to land reform.