Suspected ‘Witchdoctors’ Arrested Over Attempt to ‘Bewitch’ Zambia’s President

By Dr Masimba Mavaza

In a very bizarre twist two men have been arrested in Zambia accused of being “witchdoctors” who had been tasked with trying to bewitch the president. This has seen Zambia being reduced to a village under the tree court of the Zimbabwean highly superstitious headman FourCorner N’anga Chigodora.
The police said they had arrested Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Leonard Phiri in the capital, Lusaka. BBC reports.
“Their purported mission was to use charms to harm” President Hakainde Hichilema, said the police statement, released on Friday. This has exposed President Hakainde Hichilema as an unstable fear full leader chasing his shadows. The fear of witches is a disaster but when its in leaders its terrible. The phobia is difficult to understand though. The formation of specific phobias is still not well understood, though they are twice as common in women. While the fear of harmless, or even completely fictional things may seem silly, specific phobias can become disabling if the feared thing cannot be avoided, or if treatment is not pursued.
Many people in the southern African country believe in – and live in fear of – witchcraft. This includes the President of Zambia himself.
The police said Mr Candunde and Mr Phiri were hired by Nelson Banda, the younger brother of MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda.
The MP was reportedly arrested last month in neighbouring Zimbabwe over robbery charges, which he denies, but he has not been seen in public.
He is also accused of having escaped from custody in August as he awaited to appear in court.
The opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party, led by former President Edgar Lungu, has previously alleged that these charges are politically motivated.
Emmanuel Banda, who has been an independent MP since 2021, was previously associated with Lungu, who lost the presidency to Hichilema that year.
In their statement, the police said the MP’s younger brother, Nelson, was “currently on the run”.
Mr Candunde and Mr Phiri have been charged under Zambia’s Witchcraft Act with “possession of charms”, “professing knowledge of witchcraft” and “cruelty to wild animals”.
The pair were found in possession of “assorted charms”, including a live chameleon, the police added.
They told the police they had been promised more than 2m Zambian kwacha (£58,000; $73,000) for their “mission”, according to the police statement.
The suspects are being held in custody and will appear in court “soon”, the police said, but did not give an exact date for the hearing. They have not yet commented in public on the allegations. Historically, it was widely believed that witchcraft involved the use of supernatural or magical powers to inflict harm upon members of a community or their property, and that all witches were in league with the devil. There is no credible evidence to suggest that governments or presidents rely on psychics or witches for intelligence or to predict future attacks. While some historical figures and governments have explored unconventional methods, such as the use of psychics in military contexts (e.g., the U.S. government’s Project Stargate during the Cold War), these efforts have not yielded reliable results and are generally considered pseudoscientific.

Most governments rely on established intelligence-gathering methods, including surveillance, espionage, and analysis of data, to assess threats and potential attacks, but President HH has put his firm belief in Witchcraft and his national intelligence is rooted in the fear of witches. The use of psychics or similar practices is not a standard or accepted part of modern intelligence operations. President HH has made people ask “If black magic were real, wouldn’t all famous people with many enemies, like politicians, be much vulnerable?” Do our politicians need to be arresting those suspected of being witches.
Black Magic derive it’s power not from humans (obviously) as we are unable to perform supernatural acts.

Black magic, witchcraft, occultism, etc all derive their powers from Demons, Evil Spirits, Fallen Angels.
If Politicians and other public figures are themselves servitors of those Demons then they cannot be harmed.
It doesn’t matter if another human ask an Evil Spirit to attack them, the Spirit don’t care about this human will if it disturb their agendas.
Look at Trump who has been cursed by Thousands of witches at one stage (I don’t know if you remember that story), yet he is still perfectly fine.
Wiccaphobia is the Fear of witches. Xenophobia and wiccaphobia are the same in nature. Some modern witchcraft fears have roots in xenophobia or the fear of those who are different. If you lived in a small town, you might never have encountered someone who practices Wicca or another pagan religion.
Just as is the case with all people who are ‘different’ from your in-group, it is human nature to be more guarded with people who have a different appearance, political view, or spirituality than you do.
Religious beliefs, scapegoating, and a poor understanding of pagan-based religions may account for the large-scale Wiccaphobia of the past. Today, experts recognize that the development of such phobias can also be influenced by genetics, social learning, pop culture, and negative experiences. Lack of familiarity and stereotypes can also contribute to a fear of people who are different. Getting to know people who are different from ourselves can help us overcome our biases that contribute to anxiety and fear. President Hichilema surely needs some treatment.
While this fear can be upsetting and disruptive, effective treatments can help. While medications are sometimes prescribed to help manage immediate anxiety symptoms, talk therapy is the most common treatment for specific phobias. Two approaches that can be particularly effective are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy.

Cognitive behavioral therapy involves identifying the underlying negative thoughts that contribute to fear and anxiety. Once identified, people then work on replacing these thoughts with more realistic and helpful ones.Exposure therapy is a type of CBT that is commonly used for people with phobias, in which a person is gradually exposed to the source of their fear. This is done under the supervision of a therapist in a safe environment. Along with exposure, people practice techniques such as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation to induce the relaxation response. Over time, the fear begins to lessen and fade.Therapy can be highly effective in relieving symptoms of phobias. Research has found that even just a single psychotherapy session can have positive effects and decrease feelings of fear.

If your fear is religious in nature, your therapist may want you to undergo spiritual counseling with your chosen religious leader in addition to or instead of traditional therapy.
Magic and the Christian faith are not compatible. It’s in the Bible, Acts 19:18-19, TLB. “Many of the believers who had been practicing black magic confessed their deeds and brought their incantation books and charms and burned them at a public bonfire.”
Any participation in occult magic practices is clearly forbidden by God. It’s in the Bible, Deuteronomy 18:9-13. TLB. “When you arrive in the Promised Land you must be very careful lest you be corrupted by the horrible customs of the nations now living there. For example, an Israeli who presents his child to be burned to death as a sacrifice to heathen gods, must be killed. No one may practice black magic, or call on the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune teller, or be a serpent charmer, medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone doing these things is an object of horror and disgust to the Lord, and it is because the nations do these things that the Lord your God will displace them. You must walk blamelessly before the Lord your God.”
The Lord himself must set The President and the Master Guide free from the fear of witchcraft. This would have been the time President Hichilema shows his faith in God and prophecy God’s power. But Alas Ichabod. The Glory of God has departed.