The duo admitted they were hired by a brother to former independent MP Emmanuel Banda, and were promised about $80,000 upon completing the mission.
Lusaka, Zambia: A Zambian court has sentenced two witch doctors to jail for attempting to bewitch President Hakainde Hichilema in a plot that involved charms, including a live chameleon.
The convicts, Leonard Phiri, 43, of Zambia, and Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, 42, of Mozambique, were arrested in December 2024 and charged with possessing charms and practicing witchcraft.
Magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled that their plot could have destabilized the country politically and economically, despite it being their first offense. “Their mission was to cause death, and that intention necessitates a custodial sentence with hard labor,” Mayambu ruled.
The duo admitted they were hired by Nelson Banda, a brother to former independent MP Emmanuel Banda, and were promised 2 million Zambian Kwacha (about $80,000) upon completing the mission.
Phiri and Candunde were handed two years for possessing charms and six months for practicing witchcraft. Both sentences will run concurrently.
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