September 24, 2025 • 10 mins
Read the article: https://weirddarkness.com/zambia-witchcraft-trial-president-chameleon
A live chameleon in a bottle, mysterious white powder, and a political conspiracy led to Zambia's first presidential witchcraft trial.
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#ZambiaWitchcraftTrial #AfricanPolitics2025 #WitchcraftAssassinationPlot #ChameleonRitual #TrueCrimeAfrica
A live chameleon in a bottle, mysterious white powder, and a political conspiracy led to Zambia's first presidential witchcraft trial.
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WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.
#ZambiaWitchcraftTrial #AfricanPolitics2025 #WitchcraftAssassinationPlot #ChameleonRitual #TrueCrimeAfrica
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I'm Darren Marler and this is a weird darkness bonus bite.
A hotel cleaner in Lusaka heard strange noises coming from
a room last December. What police found inside that room
would lead to the first witchcraft trial targeting a sitting
president in Zambian history. Hotel staff reported hearing unusual noises,
prompting them to alert authorities. When police arrived at the scene,
(00:29):
they discovered Letard Fiery, a forty three year old Zambian
village chief, and Justin Wubiles Condunde, a forty two year
old Mozambiqon national, in possession of items that would become
central to an unprecedented legal case. A lot of these
names are going to be foreign to me. I'll try
my best. Inside the room, officers found a live chameleon
trapped in a bottle, along with a red cloth and
(00:51):
unidentified white powder, an animal's tail, and twelve bottles of
various concoctions. These items, seemingly ordinary to an outsider, carried
sig nificant wait in a nation where seventy percent of
citizens believe in witchcraft. According to a twenty eighteen study
by the Zambia Law Development Commission. The two men insisted
they were traditional healers conducting legitimate spiritual practices, but prosecutors
(01:15):
painted a different ficture, one of hired assassins wielding supernatural
weapons against President Hakande Hechlema. The prosecution alleged that the men
were hired by the brother of Emmanuel JJ Bonda, a
former member of parliament, to become a fugitive. Bonda, who
served as the independent Member of the National Assembly for
Ptuke Central from August twenty twenty one to November twenty
(01:36):
twenty four, had disappeared under mysterious circumstances in May twenty
twenty four. He was later found in a hospital before
escaping from police custody in August while hospitalized in Chippata.
Following his escape from Japana General Hospital, authorities issued a
two million dollars Zambian quacha bounty approximately seventy two thousand
US dollars for his capture. He was eventually arrested in Hirari, Zimbabwe,
(01:59):
on the nineteenth, twenty twenty four, where he had been
renting a flat. Bonda faced multiple charges including aggravated robbery,
attempted murder, and escaping from lawful custody. As of September
twenty twenty five. This month, Bonda was reportedly hiding in
a rented boarding house in Portugal, promising his followers that
he would return to campaign against the ruling party. In
(02:20):
June twenty twenty six, during the trial, the court heard
testimony that sent chills through the packed courtroom. Leonard Fiery
openly stated that their plan was kupa, meaning to kill.
Even more disturbing was what came next. Fiuri didn't just
admit to possessing the chameleon, he demonstrated its intended use.
(02:40):
According to Magistrate Fiene Miambu's statement, Fury showed the court
how the chameleon's tail, once pricked and used in the ritual,
would cause death to occur within five days. The men
testified that they'd been promised more than a million dollars
for successfully cursing the president. The prosecution maintained that the
ritual paraphernalia found in the hotel room was specifically intended
(03:02):
to bewitch President Hijeleama with lethal consequences. The men's defense attorney,
agrip of Belondo, pleaded for leniency, arguing as clients were
first time offenders who had already spent months in custody
since their December arrest. The Keys was prosecuted under Zambia's
Witchcraft Act, a British colonial era statute passed in nineteen
fourteen that defines practicing witchcraft as pretending to exercise any
(03:26):
kind of supernatural power, sorcery or enchantment intended to cause fear, annoyance,
or injury. The maximum sentence under this law is three
years in prison. According to lawyer Dixon Jerre, people are
very rarely prosecuted for practicing witchcraft under this law, though
it has helped protect elderly women who faced mob justice
and villages after being accused of bewitching someone and causing
(03:49):
their death. Cultural heritage lecturer Donkeanini Moyo from the University
of Zambia criticized the colonial legislation, stating it attempts to
outlaw practice that it does not understand and fails to
account for the nuances of traditional spiritual practices. Magistrate Fiine
Maambu acknowledged this complexity in his ruling. He noted that
(04:09):
many people in Zambia believed in witchcraft even though it
wasn't scientifically proven, but he emphasized a crucial legal distinction.
The question is not whether the accused are wizards or
actually possess supernatural powers. It is whether they represented themselves
as such, and the evidence clearly shows they did. On Monday,
September fifteenth, twenty twenty five, the Lusaka Magistrate's Court delivered
(04:32):
its verdict. Magistrate Mayambu sentenced both men to two years
in prison with hard labor for professing witchcraft and six
months for possessing charms. The sentences would run concurrently, meaning
each man would serve two years total from their arrest
date in December twenty twenty four. In his ruling, Magistrate
Miambu didn't mince words about the severity of the crime,
(04:54):
saying the convicts were not only targeting the president, but
they also became enemies of all Zambia. Had their mission succeeded,
it would have destabilized the nation politically and economically. The
court dismissed all please for leniency, despite the defense's request
for a fine instead of imprisonment. Magistrate Maamboo stood firm,
stating the law existed to protect society from fear and
(05:16):
harm caused by those claiming to wield supernatural powers. The
trial unfolded against a backdrop of increasing political tension in Zambia.
President Hitchilema, who came into power in twenty twenty one
and will be seeking a second term next year, has
been accused of using the courts to silence his opponents
and crack down on free speech. Human rights groups and
commentators have cited the harassment of journalists and opposition figures,
(05:40):
with some seeing the witchcraft prosecution as part of a
wider pattern of using courts and institutions to weaken political rivals. Ironically,
Hicchilema himself had been accused of using witchcraft when he
was an opposition leader by the late President Michael Sauda,
who claimed the magic from Hicchelema's home region was stronger.
Hitchilemma never respect bonded to that accusation from over a
(06:01):
decade ago. The president, the devout member of the Seventh
day Adventist Church, has previously stated he does not believe
in witchcraft. He is not publicly commented on this specific case, though,
adding another layer of supernatural suspicion to Zambian politics. Witchcraft
has played a major role in the ongoing dispute concerning
the body of late President Edgar Lungu, who died in
(06:22):
June twenty twenty five and is currently awaiting burial in
the Morgue in South Africa. Lungu, who ruled from twenty
fifteen to twenty twenty one, died from an undisclosed illness
in a South African hospital on June fifth, at the
age of sixty eight. The process to repatriate his body
has been marred by a bitter feud between his family
and the current government. The family insisted that Hishelemma should
(06:45):
not attend the funeral, citing Lungu's specific instructions, while the
government maintained that Ishelemma was due to preside over the
state funeral. Ishelemma's insistence on lungu'z burial in Zambia has
fueled rumors that the president wants to use his form
rival's body for occult's purposes, an accusation the government has denied.
After months of legal battles, South Africa's Pretoria High Court
(07:08):
ruled in August that Lungu's body must be returned to
Zambia for burial, dismissing the family's appeal. Earlier this month,
the long standing rivalry between the two leaders was intense.
Lungu's government imprisoned Hihelama for four months in twenty seventeen
on trees and charges because his convoy didn't give way
to the president's motorcade, a move widely criticized by the
(07:30):
international community. Last year, Lungu accused Hishelama's government of using
police to harass him and restrict his movements. Doctor Vano,
a traditional healer and president of the Zambian Traditional Healers
Association who lives in a plush Lusaka suburb, rejected the
presumption that supernatural beliefs are only held by rural folk.
He reported having a long list of middle class clients,
(07:53):
with the majority being women seeking charms and spells for
happy marriages, though many others come looking for protection against witchcraft.
The case has sparked debate about how modern legal systems
handle traditional beliefs. Wisdom Conda, a teacher following the trial,
closely expressed the dilemma, saying personally, I feel people should
be punished for planning to cause harm to someone, but
(08:15):
then added it's so difficult to prove witchcraft in the
courts of law. The Zambian judiciary has initially planned to
allow the trial to be broadcast live on television, only
the second time in the country's history, but reversed the
decision citing stakeholders. Zambia's influential Council of Churches had opposed
the live broadcast. This unprecedented trial forces Zambia to confront
(08:38):
the intersection of colonial era laws, traditional beliefs, modern politics.
The conviction of Leonard Fury and Justin Wibles and Dunde
marks a watershed moment in how the nation's legal system
addresses claims of supernatural harm against political leaders. The case
closely followed across Zambias. The first time anybody has been
put on trial for attempting to use witchcraft again to president,
(09:01):
has exposed some deep cultural tensions. Traditional Zambient societies and
individuals believe in a strong relationship between the human world
and the supernatural. Exploited Moyo from the University of Zambia.
As the two men begin their sentences with hard labor,
their case leaves behind questions about justice, belief and power
in modern Africa. The chameleon that was meant to kill
(09:23):
a president instead became evidence in a trial that will
be remembered for testing the boundaries between the spiritual and
legal worlds. The white powder remains unidentified. The animal's tale
sits in evidence, and somewhere in a Lusaka evidence locker,
a chameleon that was supposed to kill within five days
became instead a symbol of how traditional belief collides with
(09:44):
modern law in twenty first centuries Ambia. If you like
to read this story for yourself, you can read it
on the Weird Darkness website. Maybe you'll have better luck
without a pronounce these names. I placed a link to
it in the episode description, and you can find more
stories of the paranormal, true crimes, strange and more, many
of which I do not get the chance to share
here on the podcast at Weirddarkness dot com slash news
I'm Darren Marler and this is a weird darkness bonus bite.
A hotel cleaner in Lusaka heard strange noises coming from
a room last December. What police found inside that room
would lead to the first witchcraft trial targeting a sitting
president in Zambian history. Hotel staff reported hearing unusual noises,
prompting them to alert authorities. When police arrived at the scene,
(00:29):
they discovered Letard Fiery, a forty three year old Zambian
village chief, and Justin Wubiles Condunde, a forty two year
old Mozambiqon national, in possession of items that would become
central to an unprecedented legal case. A lot of these
names are going to be foreign to me. I'll try
my best. Inside the room, officers found a live chameleon
trapped in a bottle, along with a red cloth and
(00:51):
unidentified white powder, an animal's tail, and twelve bottles of
various concoctions. These items, seemingly ordinary to an outsider, carried
sig nificant wait in a nation where seventy percent of
citizens believe in witchcraft. According to a twenty eighteen study
by the Zambia Law Development Commission. The two men insisted
they were traditional healers conducting legitimate spiritual practices, but prosecutors
(01:15):
painted a different ficture, one of hired assassins wielding supernatural
weapons against President Hakande Hechlema. The prosecution alleged that the men
were hired by the brother of Emmanuel JJ Bonda, a
former member of parliament, to become a fugitive. Bonda, who
served as the independent Member of the National Assembly for
Ptuke Central from August twenty twenty one to November twenty
(01:36):
twenty four, had disappeared under mysterious circumstances in May twenty
twenty four. He was later found in a hospital before
escaping from police custody in August while hospitalized in Chippata.
Following his escape from Japana General Hospital, authorities issued a
two million dollars Zambian quacha bounty approximately seventy two thousand
US dollars for his capture. He was eventually arrested in Hirari, Zimbabwe,
(01:59):
on the nineteenth, twenty twenty four, where he had been
renting a flat. Bonda faced multiple charges including aggravated robbery,
attempted murder, and escaping from lawful custody. As of September
twenty twenty five. This month, Bonda was reportedly hiding in
a rented boarding house in Portugal, promising his followers that
he would return to campaign against the ruling party. In
(02:20):
June twenty twenty six, during the trial, the court heard
testimony that sent chills through the packed courtroom. Leonard Fiery
openly stated that their plan was kupa, meaning to kill.
Even more disturbing was what came next. Fiuri didn't just
admit to possessing the chameleon, he demonstrated its intended use.
(02:40):
According to Magistrate Fiene Miambu's statement, Fury showed the court
how the chameleon's tail, once pricked and used in the ritual,
would cause death to occur within five days. The men
testified that they'd been promised more than a million dollars
for successfully cursing the president. The prosecution maintained that the
ritual paraphernalia found in the hotel room was specifically intended
(03:02):
to bewitch President Hijeleama with lethal consequences. The men's defense attorney,
agrip of Belondo, pleaded for leniency, arguing as clients were
first time offenders who had already spent months in custody
since their December arrest. The Keys was prosecuted under Zambia's
Witchcraft Act, a British colonial era statute passed in nineteen
fourteen that defines practicing witchcraft as pretending to exercise any
(03:26):
kind of supernatural power, sorcery or enchantment intended to cause fear, annoyance,
or injury. The maximum sentence under this law is three
years in prison. According to lawyer Dixon Jerre, people are
very rarely prosecuted for practicing witchcraft under this law, though
it has helped protect elderly women who faced mob justice
and villages after being accused of bewitching someone and causing
(03:49):
their death. Cultural heritage lecturer Donkeanini Moyo from the University
of Zambia criticized the colonial legislation, stating it attempts to
outlaw practice that it does not understand and fails to
account for the nuances of traditional spiritual practices. Magistrate Fiine
Maambu acknowledged this complexity in his ruling. He noted that
(04:09):
many people in Zambia believed in witchcraft even though it
wasn't scientifically proven, but he emphasized a crucial legal distinction.
The question is not whether the accused are wizards or
actually possess supernatural powers. It is whether they represented themselves
as such, and the evidence clearly shows they did. On Monday,
September fifteenth, twenty twenty five, the Lusaka Magistrate's Court delivered
(04:32):
its verdict. Magistrate Mayambu sentenced both men to two years
in prison with hard labor for professing witchcraft and six
months for possessing charms. The sentences would run concurrently, meaning
each man would serve two years total from their arrest
date in December twenty twenty four. In his ruling, Magistrate
Miambu didn't mince words about the severity of the crime,
(04:54):
saying the convicts were not only targeting the president, but
they also became enemies of all Zambia. Had their mission succeeded,
it would have destabilized the nation politically and economically. The
court dismissed all please for leniency, despite the defense's request
for a fine instead of imprisonment. Magistrate Maamboo stood firm,
stating the law existed to protect society from fear and
(05:16):
harm caused by those claiming to wield supernatural powers. The
trial unfolded against a backdrop of increasing political tension in Zambia.
President Hitchilema, who came into power in twenty twenty one
and will be seeking a second term next year, has
been accused of using the courts to silence his opponents
and crack down on free speech. Human rights groups and
commentators have cited the harassment of journalists and opposition figures,
(05:40):
with some seeing the witchcraft prosecution as part of a
wider pattern of using courts and institutions to weaken political rivals. Ironically,
Hicchilema himself had been accused of using witchcraft when he
was an opposition leader by the late President Michael Sauda,
who claimed the magic from Hicchelema's home region was stronger.
Hitchilemma never respect bonded to that accusation from over a
(06:01):
decade ago. The president, the devout member of the Seventh
day Adventist Church, has previously stated he does not believe
in witchcraft. He is not publicly commented on this specific case, though,
adding another layer of supernatural suspicion to Zambian politics. Witchcraft
has played a major role in the ongoing dispute concerning
the body of late President Edgar Lungu, who died in
(06:22):
June twenty twenty five and is currently awaiting burial in
the Morgue in South Africa. Lungu, who ruled from twenty
fifteen to twenty twenty one, died from an undisclosed illness
in a South African hospital on June fifth, at the
age of sixty eight. The process to repatriate his body
has been marred by a bitter feud between his family
and the current government. The family insisted that Hishelemma should
(06:45):
not attend the funeral, citing Lungu's specific instructions, while the
government maintained that Ishelemma was due to preside over the
state funeral. Ishelemma's insistence on lungu'z burial in Zambia has
fueled rumors that the president wants to use his form
rival's body for occult's purposes, an accusation the government has denied.
After months of legal battles, South Africa's Pretoria High Court
(07:08):
ruled in August that Lungu's body must be returned to
Zambia for burial, dismissing the family's appeal. Earlier this month,
the long standing rivalry between the two leaders was intense.
Lungu's government imprisoned Hihelama for four months in twenty seventeen
on trees and charges because his convoy didn't give way
to the president's motorcade, a move widely criticized by the
(07:30):
international community. Last year, Lungu accused Hishelama's government of using
police to harass him and restrict his movements. Doctor Vano,
a traditional healer and president of the Zambian Traditional Healers
Association who lives in a plush Lusaka suburb, rejected the
presumption that supernatural beliefs are only held by rural folk.
He reported having a long list of middle class clients,
(07:53):
with the majority being women seeking charms and spells for
happy marriages, though many others come looking for protection against witchcraft.
The case has sparked debate about how modern legal systems
handle traditional beliefs. Wisdom Conda, a teacher following the trial,
closely expressed the dilemma, saying personally, I feel people should
be punished for planning to cause harm to someone, but
(08:15):
then added it's so difficult to prove witchcraft in the
courts of law. The Zambian judiciary has initially planned to
allow the trial to be broadcast live on television, only
the second time in the country's history, but reversed the
decision citing stakeholders. Zambia's influential Council of Churches had opposed
the live broadcast. This unprecedented trial forces Zambia to confront
(08:38):
the intersection of colonial era laws, traditional beliefs, modern politics.
The conviction of Leonard Fury and Justin Wibles and Dunde
marks a watershed moment in how the nation's legal system
addresses claims of supernatural harm against political leaders. The case
closely followed across Zambias. The first time anybody has been
put on trial for attempting to use witchcraft again to president,
(09:01):
has exposed some deep cultural tensions. Traditional Zambient societies and
individuals believe in a strong relationship between the human world
and the supernatural. Exploited Moyo from the University of Zambia.
As the two men begin their sentences with hard labor,
their case leaves behind questions about justice, belief and power
in modern Africa. The chameleon that was meant to kill
(09:23):
a president instead became evidence in a trial that will
be remembered for testing the boundaries between the spiritual and
legal worlds. The white powder remains unidentified. The animal's tale
sits in evidence, and somewhere in a Lusaka evidence locker,
a chameleon that was supposed to kill within five days
became instead a symbol of how traditional belief collides with
(09:44):
modern law in twenty first centuries Ambia. If you like
to read this story for yourself, you can read it
on the Weird Darkness website. Maybe you'll have better luck
without a pronounce these names. I placed a link to
it in the episode description, and you can find more
stories of the paranormal, true crimes, strange and more, many
of which I do not get the chance to share
here on the podcast at Weirddarkness dot com slash news
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