Land has remained a significant political issue since 1980, and well before independence. It reemerged as a hot political issue in 1997 with Government unveiling its plan to designate over 1000 white-owned farms. However, this was not the burning issue for many ordinary Zimbabwean’s that Government claimed, and a study commissioned by the Government itself indicated that people were more interested in jobs in a market economy, and an opportunity to work for a decent living. This information was tucked away in the comprehensive study on poverty released by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare. Members of about 18 000 rural and urban households were interviewed and asked, among other things, what they believed were the main causes of poverty and how they could be combated. One percent of those responding said poverty was caused by a shortage of land. Only 2% said poverty could be resolved by the provision of land. However, the claims and counterclaims about the need for resettlement went on over the year, with the most clear consequence being a loss of investor confidence. In just four days, the index lost 743.16 points, as investors opted for the money market which is offering higher returns. On November 14 1997, the Zimbabwe dollar traded 25 to the US dollar, and up to 45 Zimbabwean Dollars to the British pound. Previously the Zimbabwe dollar fluctuated between 10 and 12 to the US dollar. All analysts attributed the falls to loss of confidence in the Government, and particularly the very conflicting signals about land acquisition. A resolution adopted at the end of the two-day ZANU-PF conference commended Government for taking bold steps to resolve the land issue, 17 years after the attainment of Independence in 1980. Government planned to acquire at some 1,480 farms for resettlement and commercial farming for indigenous people. However, investigations in the past have shown that senior ruling party and Government officials have benefited from designated farms rather than communal people. Commercial Farmers Union leaders met the President to present their own scheme to voluntarily sell 300 farms — totalling 1.2 million acres (485,830 hectares) — to the Government. They warned him that his scheme would wreck the economy, which relies on farm exports for 40% of its foreign exchange, which was a view that even the IMF expressed and continues to express. War Veterans Scandal No event was followed more avidly and with greater anger than the scandal over the abuses of the War Victims Compensation Fund. Allegations of impropriety in the administration in the Fund had been made over the previous year in the independent press, but the scandal broke in early 1997. The allegations were so severe that President Mugabe ordered an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of millions of dollars of compensation funds. The Commission to Investigate Abuses of the War Victims Compensation Fund, popularly known as the Chidyausiku Commission, rapidly became as high profile an investigation as an earlier predecessor in the 1970s. Although there was concern about the amount that was alleged to have been misappropriated, there was also considerable anger over the number of highly placed and well-paid individuals who had received payments from the fund. Personalities mentioned on the list included former ZBC staffer Robin Shava (100% disability and Z$483 535); Wilfred Mhanda (29,5% disability and Z$190 879); Vivian Mwashita (94% disability and Z$579 091); B Murahwa (93,2% disability and Z $616 811); Perence Shiri (50% disability and Z$90 249); Joyce Mujuru (55% disability and Z$389 472); and Oppah Rushesha (65% disability and Z$478 166). The president's brother-in-law, Reward Marufu, who left in April 1997 for a diplomatic posting in Canada, is mentioned as having had a 95% disability and was said to have been paid Z$821 668. Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri is mentioned as having got a 20% disability valued at Z$138 664, with former party stalwart Edgar Tekere said to have received Z$262 162 for a 90% injury. Herbert Mahlaba received Z$272 362 for a 74% injury. The response of the public was vocal and angry. In July 1997, hundreds of ex-combatants camped outside State House to demand that they too were compensated. The ex-combatants had first gathered outside the Office of the President, from where they threatened to pull him out if he did speak to them. After learning that he was not there, they went to State House, vowing