CHINHOYI — MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti has said the recent eviction of two Zimbabwean representatives from the Big Brother Africa Stargame, Rockford (Roki) Josphats and Maneta Mazanhi was expected as a culture of violence had permeated the country’s society so much it had become a way of life.
Addressing hundreds of party supporters at Chinhoyi Stadium on Sunday, Biti said Roki and Maneta had portrayed a true reflection of the day-to-day violence that occurred in Zimbabwe, and therefore the duo’s exit from the lucrative BBA Stargame came as no surprise.
“You saw it for yourselves on that Big Brother show on television where our representatives engaged in violence. What did you expect from the two when violence is a daily happening in their country? It was expected of them as violence has become culture in Zimbabwe,” Biti, who is also Finance minister said. Roki and Maneta were disqualified from BBA after engaging in an ugly violent scene.
During his address, Biti also stirred people’s emotions when he chronicled the brutality the late MDC-T politician and MP Learnmore ‘Judah’ Jongwe suffered at the hands of President Robert Mugabe’s regime, which he said had perfected the art of violence.
“Mugabe has degrees in violence. Imagine people like Nelson Mandela were imprisoned at Robben Island for 27 years and managed to come out alive to become a President but Jongwe stayed in Mugabe’s prison for only three days and died. Those who saw his body in Zhombe would bear witness that Jongwe was murdered. He did not die of natural causes, because his corpse was as black as a pot,” Biti said, urging supporters to shun violence but remove Mugabe through a free-and-fair ballot.
