A case of witchcraft involving the president of Zambia brings control of a law and traditions from the colonial era

Lusaka – Two men are in the trial in Zambia on the charge of practicing witchcraft and having charms intended to harm the president of the country, in a case that has become a source of fascination in the nation of South Africa.

Interest reflects a faith in magic forms and supernatural phenomena that remains in certain parts of the southern Africa-and some irritation in a law of the colonial era that marks it and incriminates it in Zambia.

“I hate that colonial legislation that tries to get out of the law a practice that does not understand,” said Gankhanani Moyo, a cultural heritage lecturer at the University of Zambia. He said he fails to consider the shades of traditional African beliefs.

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

The process also has a heavy dose of political intrigue. Prosecutors claim that the two men were employed by an Emmanuel Banda’s brother – a former parliamentarian who is now on – to curse President Hakinde Hichilema.

Some have rejected it as Hichilema stunt, which are facing the elections next year. The president did not comment on the case.

“Will the Court allow witchcraft and other witchcrafts to testify as expert witnesses?” A column in the newspaper Lusaka Times asked with contempt.

But some politicians and other public persons in Zambia have said that they believe in witchcraft, seeking 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 stated that the magic in his native region is stronger. Hichilema did not respond to that accusation more than a decade ago.

Police say men in the current case were arrested in a hotel room in the Capital, Lusaka, in December, after a cleaning report heard strange noises. They were found in the possession of a bottled chameleon and other articles, including a mysterious white powder, a red cloth and an unidentified animal tail. Also, men are experiencing accusations of cruelty to animals.

Police said a man confessed that he was employed for a curse to kill Hichilema. He confessed to the court that more than $ 1 million was promised.

The case drew attention because many Zambians take seriously witchcraft, said Enoch Ngoma, a journalist for over 30 years, who covered many such processes.

The judge in Zambia said he would allow this process to broadcast live on television, which would have been only the second time when it happened for a trial. But he reversed the decision, citing the “interested parties”. The influential council of churches in Zambia said it was opposed to a live transmission.

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

Many traditional beliefs have survived in Zambia with his official Christian religion. A study conducted by the Commission for the Development of Law in Zambia, who has a mandate of reform of the laws, found that 79% of the Zambians believed in the existence of the 2018 witch.

The study was conducted because the law of witchcraft was questioned.

It was passed in 1914, when Zambia was part of the “sphere of British influence”. The law defines the practice of witchcraft as claiming to exercise any kind of supernatural power, witchcraft, witchcraft or charity to cause fear, upset or injury.

The cases of witchcraft were difficult to follow in Zambia, with difficult evidence to collect. Cases are normally heard in traditional courts, and this is a rare one to reach the court of magistrates in Lusaka. The punishment for witchcraft is a fine or up to two years in prison, with the possibility of serious work.

Meanwhile, protecting against witchcraft can be a good deal.

Rodwell Vongo, who is called Dr. Vongo, is a traditional healer and president of the Association of Traditional Healer in Zambia. He said he would be called a witchcraft in accordance with the law, but calls this derogatory term.

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

Most of its customers are women looking for charm and spells for happy marriages, he said, but many others come in search of protection against witchcraft.

The wisdom of Kaunda, a teacher, said that he is closely pursuing the witchcraft process and believes he can help determine how his country treats the subject in the future.

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

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