Two men condemned in Zambia for an attempt to downplay and kill president

The Zambia court sentenced two men to two years in prison for an attempt to use witchcraft to kill President Hakainde Hichillema.

Zambian Leonard Firi and Mozambique Jasta Mabulas Condde were convicted under the Wizard Act after being arrested in December with charms they possess, including a living chameleon.

“My opinion is that the convicts were not only an enemy of the head of state, but they were also enemies of all Zambians,” the magistrate Fine Mayambu said in his decision.

The case was closely monitored in Zambia, as it was the first time one was tested for an attempt to use witchcraft against a president.

The prosecutor’s office claims that Firi and Kendine were hired by a fugitive former MP to enchant the hichillem.

Despite their insistence that they were conscientious traditional healers, the court found them guilty of two charges under the Wizard Act.

“The two have accepted the ownership of the charms. Firi also demonstrates that the queue of the chameleon, once stabbed and used in the ritual, will lead to death within five days,” said magistrate Michambu.

The lawyer of the two men, Agrippa Malando, said his clients pleaded for leniency as they were the first offenders.

He called on the court to fines them, but the request was rejected.

Magistrate Miambu noted that many people in Zambia, as in other African countries, believe in witchcraft, although it has not been scientifically proven.

The law is intended to protect society from fear and harm caused by those who claim that they have the power to carry out acts of witchcraft, he said.

“The question is not whether the defendants are wizards or in fact possessed supernatural powers. This is whether they have presented themselves as such, and the evidence clearly shows that they have done so,” said magistrate Miambu.

In addition to the two -year sentence, they were given for the “profession” of witchcraft, the men were sentenced to six months in prison to possess charms.

As the sentences will be executed simultaneously, they will only serve two years in prison, effective from the date of their arrest in December 2024.

Earlier, he said he did not believe in witchcraft. He did not comment on the case.

Lawyer Dixon Jere told the BBC that the Wizard Act was passed during a colonial rule in 1914.

He said that people are “very rarely” pursued to practicing witchcraft, but this helped to protect elderly women who face the justice of the mafia in villages after being charged with charming someone and causing their death.

Wizardry has also been involved in conversations about the long -term dispute between the government and the family of the late President Edgar Lungu because of his funeral.

Some people believe that the government’s insistence on being buried in Zambia, contrary to the wishes of his family, may be for “occult reasons”.

The government denied the charge.

Lungu died in South Africa in June, and his body is still in Morga there because of the failure to reach an agreement on his funeral.