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HARARE – Rapper Holy Ten has announced that he has entered rehabilitation, conceding a long-running battle with alcohol while continuing to deny the drug abuse allegations that have trailed him in recent weeks.
“I have decided to go and check myself into a rehabilitation centre, one of the best in the world, to show the youth that this is your way if this is your problem. Rehab is a very difficult decision especially when you know you’re not using what they say you’re using,” the 26-year-old musician, real name Mukudzei Chitsama, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“I’ve always just avoided it because that’s a place where I know the junkies go. As a man that drank a lot of alcohol, but still had the ability to make proper decisions the next morning…I thought I could just conquer it easily. But the same alcohol has destroyed others before – their health, their families, their talents and their lives. So I’ve made this bold decision to get professional help.”
ZimLive understands the rehabilitation facility is in South Africa. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son, Collins, who was the victim of an Instagram tirade by the singer alongside his twin brother, Sean, is reportedly funding the treatment after Holy Ten’s mother and wife asked him for help.
Holy Ten, who has faced days of speculation over his erratic behaviour, acknowledged he had caused hurt with recent outbursts – including an extraordinary attack on Mnangagwa whom he suggested was “leading a terrorist organisation,” referring to Zanu PF.
Holy Ten also laid into Collins and Sean, accusing them of withdrawing gifts they gave him for campaigning for Zanu PF in 2023. He now claims that he made up the allegations, insisting that he has title deeds to a house he stated was being repossessed.
“I remain apologetic for everything I said. Please forgive me Zimbabwe, please forgive me my Commander-in-Chief, my president, my brothers (Sean and Collins), my mother who is in a state of pain and disbelief, my wife who has been watching all this happening and trying to help me and our political party,” he wrote.
ZimLive reported on Wednesday that Holy Ten’s wife Kimberly Richards had moved out of their home in Arlington in Harare “for her own safety,” according to a friend.
The rapper insisted he still regarded himself as “the leader of the youth” but admitted he needed to rediscover “the direction they need to be led in. The right one. I’m not going to inspire a nation of alcoholics.”
The move to seek treatment follows growing concern from his family and associates, some of whom have privately urged him to undergo detoxification after describing him as violent, abusive and in declining health.
Friends say Holy Ten has recently been treated for pancreatitis and high blood pressure, and they feared he was killing himself slowly with his heavy drinking.
