A Zambian court has sentenced two men to two years in prison after they were found guilty of trying to kill President Hakainde Hichilema by means of witchcraft.
Per BBC, the convicted men were identified as Leonard Phiri and Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, and they were arrested in connection with their alleged attempt to kill Hichilema in December. Phiri is a Zambian, while Candunde is from Mozambique. Zambian authorities prosecuted the two under the African country’s Witchcraft Act.
“It is my considered view that the convicts were not only the enemy of the head of state but were also enemies of all Zambians,” magistrate Fine Mayambu stated in his ruling.
The case in question marked the first time someone was standing trial for trying to harm the president by means of witchcraft. Agrippa Malando, the lawyer for the convicted men, asked the court to be lenient as his clients were first-time offenders. The court also turned down the attorney’s request to rather fine his clients.
“The question is not whether the accused are wizards or actually possess supernatural powers. It is whether they represented themselves as such, and the evidence clearly shows they did,” Magistrate Mayambu said.
Besides their two-year sentence, the men received an additional six-month sentence for possessing charms.
Police had claimed in their investigations that Nelson Banda, who is former MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda’s younger brother, hired Candunde and Phiri to bewitch the president. The two suspects’ arrest came after the now fugitive former parliamentarian was taken into custody in November 2024 after he was accused of robbery. Emmanuel Banda, who was arrested in Zimbabwe, however, said he committed no crime.
Police said that at the time of their arrests, the suspects had a live chameleon and other “assorted charms” in their possession, BBC reported.
Police in their statement also claimed that the suspects were promised a $73,000 reward should their attempted bewitchment of the president be successful. But the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party said those allegations were politically motivated.
