A Zambian court has sentenced two men to two years in prison after finding them guilty of attempting to use witchcraft to kill President Hakainde Hichilema, in a case that has captured national and international attention. The two convicts, Zambian national Leonard Phiri and Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, were convicted under the country’s colonial-era Witchcraft Act after being arrested in December 2024 with charms in their possession, including a live chameleon believed to be part of the ritual.
Magistrate Fine Mayambu, who delivered the ruling, said the pair were not only a threat to the head of state but to all Zambians, stressing that their actions endangered the peace and security of society. This is the first time in Zambia’s history that individuals have been prosecuted for attempting to use witchcraft against a sitting president, making the case both unprecedented and highly significant in the country’s judicial records.
Prosecutors argued that the men were hired by a fugitive former Member of Parliament to carry out the act, with the intention of causing President Hichilema’s death through ritual practices. During the trial, the prosecution revealed that Phiri had demonstrated how the charms were to be used, explaining that pricking the tail of the chameleon as part of the ritual would allegedly lead to death within five days. Both men admitted to owning the charms but claimed they were traditional healers, not sorcerers, intending harm.
Despite their insistence that they were merely healers, the court rejected their defense and found them guilty on two counts under the Witchcraft Act. Magistrate Mayambu explained that the issue was not whether witchcraft actually works or whether the men possessed supernatural powers, but whether they represented themselves as capable of such acts and instilled fear in society. He emphasized that witchcraft, while not scientifically proven, is widely believed in Zambia and many African countries, and therefore, the law is necessary to protect citizens from fear, exploitation, and potential harm.
The two men were sentenced to two years in prison for professing witchcraft and an additional six months for possessing charms. However, since the sentences will run concurrently, they will serve a total of two years, effective from the date of their arrest in December 2024. Their lawyer, Agrippa Malando, pleaded for leniency on the grounds that his clients were first-time offenders and asked the court to impose fines instead of custodial sentences, but the request was dismissed.
The Witchcraft Act, which dates back to 1914 during colonial rule, remains controversial. Lawyer Dickson Jere told the BBC that prosecutions under the law are rare, but the legislation has historically been used to protect vulnerable groups, especially elderly women, from mob justice in villages where accusations of witchcraft can lead to violent reprisals. The conviction of Phiri and Candunde has reignited debates about whether the law, more than a century old, should still be applied in modern Zambia.
President Hichilema, who has previously stated that he does not believe in witchcraft, has not commented publicly on the case. Nevertheless, the trial and conviction highlight the enduring role of witchcraft in Zambian society, where belief in the supernatural continues to shape both personal and political narratives. The issue has also spilled over into broader national conversations, particularly in relation to the ongoing dispute over the burial of the late former President Edgar Lungu. Some citizens have speculated that the government’s insistence that Lungu be buried in Zambia, despite his family’s preference for a burial abroad, may have occult undertones a claim the government has strongly denied.
Lungu, who died in South Africa in June, remains unburied in a morgue as negotiations over his final resting place drag on. This, coupled with the witchcraft case involving President Hichilema, has fueled a fresh wave of public debate about tradition, politics, and the law in Zambia. The imprisonment of Phiri and Candunde underscores how deeply the question of witchcraft remains embedded in the country’s cultural fabric, even as Zambia strives to position itself as a modern democratic state.
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