Wizard assassin case pits beliefs against the law
A magistrate has handed down jail terms to two men for planning to kill the president by performing a magic ritual.
Olga Manda in Lusaka
A Zambian court has sent two men to prison for “attempting to use witchcraft” to kill President Hakainde Hichilema. The case relied on a colonial-era law. It’s the first time the country’s courts have handed down such a conviction.
Magistrate Fine Mayambu sentenced Leonard Phiri, 43, and Mozambican Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, 43, to two and a half years in prison for professing knowledge of witchcraft and possessing alleged charms: a live chameleon, a red cloth, and a white powder.
“Had the convicts executed their mission... it could have caused the death of a head of state within five days,” Mayambu said, without elaborating.
The ruling appears to have ignored a 2020 high court ruling that said that witchcraft accusations required demonstrable harmful outcomes, not mere possession of traditional items.
Police said the two were promised more than two million kwacha ($85,000) by a brother of one of Hichilema’s political rivals to carry out the ritual.
The case highlights the tension between colonial-era witchcraft laws and modern rights. The law defines witchcraft as pretending to use supernatural powers to cause fear, annoyance, or harm. Accusing someone of being a witch is also a crime.
“We are 61 years after independence and still dealing with unproductive issues of sorcery and witchcraft,” lawyer Dickson Jere told The Continent. Neighbouring Malawi and Botswana also retain similar laws.
Human rights lecturer Theresa Sambo said Zambia’s witchcraft law could be challenged as unconstitutional but remains enforceable as long as it is on the books.