WITCH HUNT

Two Men Jailed After Attempting to Kill President with Witchcraft in Zambia

The men were sentenced to two years under the country’s Witchcraft Act.

Two men were sentenced last week to two years in prison after they were caught attempting to assassinate the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, with witchcraft. Leonard Phiri, 43, and Jasten Candunde, 42, faced charges under the colonial-era Witchcraft Act, and plead for leniency during their trial. The court found Phiri and Candunde guilty of attempting to cast a deadly spell on Hichilema with various charms; the men possessed a live chameleon, an animal tail, and a dozen bottles of concoctions as part of their attempted sorcery. Passed in 1914, the Witchcraft Act criminalizes witchcraft, defined as exercising any kind of supernatural power, sorcery, or enchantment used to cause fear, annoyance, or injury. Prosecutors also alleged the two men had political motives, accusing the brother of a former lawmaker of hiring the two hitmen to carry out the witchcraft. According to officials, the men were arrested in a hotel room, where charms were found after a cleaner had reported hearing strange noises. The crime occurred in the nation’s capital of Lusaka. The case has sparked intrigue in Zambia as the first case of an individual using attempted witchcraft to harm a sitting president.