An assassination plot against a President using live chameleon, an animal tail, and witchcraft barely registered; here's what happened as the world read all about Charlie Kirk killing

A politically linked assassination in the United States of America has rattled not only the country but also the world. The killing of US President Donald Trump supporter Charlie Kirk, a young right-wing conservative leader and co-founder of Turning Point USA, allegedly by another white youngster, Tyler Robinson, with left-leaning views, has split the country down the middle. While this murder hogged the limelight, an assassination plot to eliminate a country's President was hardly covered by international media.

The busted plot revealed the use of witchcraft to kill the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema. Two men were arrested, tried and convicted by the court of Magistrate Fine Mayambu for trying to assassinate Hichilema by using a live chameleon, a red cloth, an unknown white powder, an animal tail and 12 bottles of concoctions.

They had planned to use witchcraft and the materials found in their possession to put a spell on President Hichilema to kill him. It was the first case in the African country when someone was caught and convicted of trying to use witchcraft against a President.


One of those convicted is a 43-year-old Zambian national Leonard Phiri but the other person, Jasten Mabulesse Candunde (42), is from Mozambique. The two were on Monday (September 15) sentenced to a two-year prison term with hard labor by a Zambian court after they were convicted under the colonial-era Witchcraft Act after being arrested in December 2024.

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During the trial, the prosecution claimed that the two were hired by the brother of a fugitive former MP Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda to cast a spell and kill Hichilema. Banda is on the run after he was accused of robbery and attempted murder.

Phiri and Candunde maintained they were traditional healers

But the court finally found them guilty of witchcraft and convicted them on two counts under the 1914 enacted Act. "The two accepted ownership of the charms. Phiri further demonstrated that the chameleon's tail, once pricked and used in the ritual, would cause death to occur within five days," Magistrate Mayambu said.

The magistrate in his ruling noted that witchcraft was not scientifically proven but many people in Zambia believed in it. President Hichilema, too, claims he does not believe in witchcraft. "I don't believe in witchcraft. Never believe in witchcraft as a person, as a family, as a Christian. I don't believe in witchcraft," he had said on the AfricaHere&NOW podcast with journalist Martine Dennis in August 2025.

What is Zambia’s Witchcraft Act?

Zambia's Witchcraft Act came into force more than a century ago on May 9, 1914. It stipulates three years as the maximum prison term for a convicted person. According to The Washington Post witchcraft is defined as pretending to exercise any kind of supernatural power, sorcery, or enchantment intended to cause fear, annoyance, or injury.

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