A witchcraft case involving Zambia’s president brings scrutiny of a colonial-era law and traditions

Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema speaks during the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa Summit at the Carrinho food processing factory near Lobito, Angola, on Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, file)

LUSAKA, Zambia -- Two men are on trial in Zambia on charges of practicing witchcraft and possessing charms intended to harm the country’s president, in a case that has become a source of fascination in the southern African nation.

The interest reflects a belief in forms of magic and supernatural phenomena that remains in parts of southern Africa -- and some irritation at a colonial-era law that brands it witchcraft and criminalizes it in Zambia.

“I hate that colonial piece of legislation that attempts to outlaw a practice that it does not understand,” said Gankhanani Moyo, a cultural heritage lecturer at the University of Zambia. He said it fails to consider the nuances of traditional African beliefs.

“Traditional Zambian societies and individuals believe in a strong relationship between the human world and the supernatural,” Moyo said.

The trial also has a heavy dose of political intrigue. Prosecutors allege the two men were hired by a brother of Emmanuel Banda -- a former lawmaker who is now on the run -- to curse President Hakainde Hichilema.

Some have dismissed it as a stunt by Hichilema, who faces an election next year. The president hasn’t commented on the case.

“Will the court allow witch doctors and other alleged witches to testify as expert witnesses?” a column in the Lusaka Times newspaper asked with scorn.

But some politicians and other public figures in Zambia have said they believe in witchcraft, seeking out supernatural help to make them stronger or more popular.

Hichilema himself was accused of using witchcraft as an opposition leader by the late President Michael Sata, who asserted that the magic from his home region was stronger. Hichilema didn’t respond to that accusation more than a decade ago.

Suspects testified that they were promised money

Police say the men in the current case were arrested in a hotel room in the capital, Lusaka, in December after a cleaner reported hearing strange noises. They were found in possession of a bottled chameleon and other items including a mysterious white powder, a red cloth and an unidentified animal’s tail. The men also face charges of cruelty to animals.

Police said one man confessed they had been hired for a curse to kill Hichilema. He testified in court they were promised more than $1 million.

The case has captured attention because many Zambians take witchcraft seriously, said Enoch Ngoma, a journalist for more than 30 years who has covered many such trials.

Zambia’s judiciary had said it would allow this trial to be broadcast live on television, which would have been just the second time that’s happened for a trial. But it reversed the decision, citing “stakeholders.” Zambia’s influential Council of Churches had said it was opposed to a live broadcast.

When the trial opened last week, the courtroom was packed.

Many traditional beliefs have survived in Zambia alongside its official Christian religion. A study by the Zambia Law Development Commission, which has a mandate to reform laws, found that 79% of Zambians believed in the existence of witchcraft as of 2018.

The study was conducted because the Witchcraft Act has been questioned.

It was passed in 1914 when Zambia was part of the British “sphere of influence.” The act defines practicing witchcraft as pretending to exercise any kind of supernatural power, witchcraft, sorcery or enchantment calculated to cause fear, annoyance or injury.

Witchcraft cases have been difficult to prosecute in Zambia, with evidence tricky to collect. The cases are normally heard in traditional courts, and this is a rare one to reach the magistrates court in Lusaka. The penalty for practicing witchcraft is a fine or up to two years in jail, with the possibility of hard labor.

Meanwhile, protecting against witchcraft can be good business.

Rodwell Vongo, who goes by the name Dr. Vongo, is a traditional healer and president of the Zambian Traditional Healers Association. He said he would be referred to as a witch doctor under the law but calls that term derogatory.

He lives in a plush suburb of Lusaka and said he has a long list of middle-class clients, rejecting the presumption that such beliefs are only held by rural folk.

The majority of his customers are women who seek charms and spells for happy marriages, he said, but many others come looking for protection against witchcraft.

Wisdom Kaunda, a teacher, said he was closely following the witchcraft trial and believes it can help determine how his country treats the subject in the future.

“Personally, I feel people should be punished for planning to cause harm to someone,” he said, but added: “It is so difficult to prove witchcraft in the courts of law.”