When Belief and Fear Reshaped Zambia

Introduction

These episodes differ sharply. The Lumpa conflict involved a real mass religious movement and an armed state response. Some alleged ritual killings were genuine homicides involving mutilation, but claims about organised Satanist networks or foreign conspirators were often unproven. Witchcraft accusations reflect sincerely held beliefs yet can also conceal inheritance disputes, political rivalry, illness or personal revenge. Calling all of this “mass hysteria” would blur the most important question: how did fear become socially persuasive, and who was harmed when it did?

When a millenarian movement challenged colonial rule

One of the earliest movements to alarm the authorities in Northern Rhodesia, as Zambia was then known, was Watch Tower. It drew inspiration from the writings of Charles Taze Russell and shared the apocalyptic expectation that the existing worldly order would soon be replaced by divine rule. In southern and central Africa, however, Watch Tower ideas were adapted locally rather than simply copied from an American organisation. Preachers linked biblical prophecy with grievances about taxation, migrant labour, racial inequality and colonial control.[ox.ac.uk]ora.ox.ac.ukford University Research ArchiveThe Watch Tower movement in south central Africa, 1908-…by S Cross · 1973 · Cited by 26 — The Watch…

Colonial officials commonly treated Watch Tower adherents as politically dangerous because some rejected established churches, chiefs, taxes or other forms of secular authority. The movement’s loose organisation made it particularly difficult to classify: officials sometimes used “Watch Tower” as a broad label for independent preachers who were not necessarily connected to one another. Historians therefore caution against treating it as a single conspiratorial organisation. It was better understood as a shifting millenarian current through which Africans interpreted rapid economic and political change.[jstor.org]jstor.orgSectarian Allegiance & PoliticalSectarian Allegiance & Political - Authority: the Watch Towerby JM Assimeng · 1970 · Cited by 22 — Watch Tower movement, whose early…

This distinction matters because colonial descriptions helped establish a pattern later repeated in Zambia: an autonomous religious movement could be represented as a primitive sect, a security threat or an irrational crowd even when its appeal rested on recognisable social grievances. The authorities’ fear was not entirely invented—religious rejection of state legitimacy could have political consequences—but official language often made diverse believers appear more coordinated and rebellious than the evidence justified.

Alice Lenshina and the Lumpa catastrophe

The most consequential episode in Zambia’s history of religion and collective fear was the conflict surrounding Alice Lenshina’s Lumpa Church. Lenshina emerged as a religious leader in the Chinsali area after a severe illness in 1953. She said that she had received a divine commission and built a revival movement centred on baptism, moral reform and opposition to witchcraft, alcohol and polygamy. The church also created an unusually prominent religious role for a woman in a setting where mission institutions generally reserved authority for men.[wikipedia.org]WikipediaAlice LenshinaAlice Lenshina

Lumpa expanded rapidly during the 1950s. Its success brought it into competition with established missions and, more dangerously, with the United National Independence Party, or UNIP. Both movements sought loyalty in the same northern communities. Lumpa members increasingly separated themselves into their own settlements and resisted participation in party structures. UNIP activists, meanwhile, viewed religious neutrality or withdrawal as opposition to the nationalist struggle.[africabib.org]africabib.orgRebellion or massacre?The UNIP-Lumpa conflict revisitedby DM Gordon · 2008 · Cited by 29 — The Lumpa Church was founded in 1953 by Alice Mulenga Lenshina. Most…

Violence escalated in the months before independence in 1964. The government described the events as the “Lumpa uprising” and deployed troops against church communities. Later historical work has questioned that official framing, arguing that the fighting was not simply a planned religious rebellion but the culmination of local clashes, party coercion, mutual fear and an overwhelming military response. Estimates vary, but several hundred Lumpa followers were killed; one modern history gives a figure of about 650 church members, while other accounts place the wider death toll closer to 1,000. Thousands fled across the border into Congo.[africabib.org]africabib.orgRebellion or massacre?The UNIP-Lumpa conflict revisitedby DM Gordon · 2008 · Cited by 29 — The Lumpa Church was founded in 1953 by Alice Mulenga Lenshina. Most…

The church was banned, and Lenshina surrendered and spent much of the following decade in detention or restriction without being tried for directing the violence. The state’s response helped secure UNIP’s authority at independence, but it also fixed a simplified national memory: a fanatical sect had rebelled and had to be crushed. Historians now describe a more complicated tragedy in which millenarian faith, women’s religious agency, nationalist mobilisation and state-building collided. The term “cult” is especially misleading here because it reduces a large African-initiated church to the hostile labels applied by its rivals.[wikipedia.org]WikipediaAlice LenshinaAlice Lenshina

How Satanism became an explanation for hidden danger

Stories about Satanism became especially visible in Zambia from the early 1990s and reached the level of a moral panic in the following decade. Testimonies circulated about secret initiations, blood drinking, supernatural wealth and networks operating through schools, businesses or churches. Some clergy presented former “Satanists” at public meetings, where dramatic personal accounts were treated as proof of a hidden national threat.[allafrica.com]allafrica.comOpen source on allafrica.com.

Researchers who have studied these narratives do not conclude that Zambia contained a coherent, large-scale Satanist underground. Instead, “Satanism” often worked as a flexible label for several different fears: unfamiliar minority churches, youth rebellion, sexual misconduct, unexplained illness, conspicuous wealth, grave desecration and murders thought to involve body parts. The accusation could also be used against religious competitors. A Zambian Baptist pastor, for example, criticised the habit of calling disliked or theologically suspect churches Satanist without evidence.[conradmbewe.com]conradmbewe.comConrad Mbewe They are Satanists!Conrad Mbewe They are Satanists!

The panic was persuasive partly because it joined Christian ideas about the Devil to older concerns about occult harm and wealth obtained through hidden means. In periods of inequality, the sudden success of a businessman or politician may be interpreted not merely as corruption but as evidence of supernatural exchange. Stories of blood, organs and secret societies express a moral question in concrete form: who has prospered by sacrificing other people?

That does not mean every incident was invented. Zambia has experienced real murders in which body parts were removed, and police have arrested suspects in connection with such crimes. The evidential mistake comes when an actual mutilated body is treated as automatic proof of an extensive Satanist network, or when rumour identifies whole categories of people—foreign traders, wealthy shopkeepers or minority congregations—as accomplices.

Ritual-murder rumours and the turn to mob violence

The most destructive modern scares began with real or suspected killings and then expanded through radio reports, neighbourhood conversation and, later, social media. The crucial shift occurred when uncertainty about a crime became certainty about a hidden group.

In Mansa in 2011, a local radio broadcast repeated allegations that businesspeople had hired killers to abduct children and use their body parts in wealth-producing charms. Rioters attacked suspected offenders, and three people—two Zambians and a Congolese national—were burned to death. The victims were punished not through evidence or trial but through a story that connected commercial success, foreigners and occult murder.[ReliefWeb]reliefweb.intRelief Web Deadly riots "send a bad signalRelief Web Deadly riots "send a bad signal

A still larger panic struck Lusaka in April 2016 after at least six people were killed and some bodies were found with organs or other parts missing. Rumours blamed foreigners, particularly Rwandan refugees and migrants. Shops and homes were looted, hundreds of people sought police protection or return to refugee camps, and at least two people were burned alive in the unrest. Police later announced arrests in the murder investigation, but the existence of suspects did not validate the collective accusation against foreign communities.[reuters.com]reuters.comRiots rock Zambia's capital after suspected ritual murdersRiots rock Zambia's capital after suspected ritual murdersPublished: April 18, 2016

Research on Zambian Satanism narratives identifies similar riots in Chambishi, Katete, Ndola, Shiwang’andu, Luanshya, Chingola, Chipata and Mkushi between 2012 and 2016. These incidents were not identical, and the evidence behind individual allegations varied. Their repeated pattern is more revealing than any single rumour: a disturbing death or disappearance was followed by claims of ritual motivation, suspicion settled on locally vulnerable outsiders or traders, and crowds attacked before investigations could establish responsibility.[ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearch Gate Speaking of Satan in Zambia: Making cultural and personalResearch Gate Speaking of Satan in Zambia: Making cultural and personalPublished: January 1, 2022

The social pressures were practical as well as religious. Many affected towns had experienced unemployment, uneven mining wealth, insecure informal trading and distrust of police. An occult explanation transformed diffuse frustration into a clear narrative with visible villains. Looting could then be presented as moral punishment, even when the targets had no demonstrated connection to the original crime.

The 2020 “gassing” scare

In early 2020, reports spread across Zambia that attackers were entering homes or schools and using chemical gases to incapacitate people. Stories on social media alleged that the incidents were linked to ritual killings, party politics or government plots. Reliable information about what substances, if any, had been used remained scarce, while rumours travelled nationally.[Fact Check AFP]factcheck.afp.comsocial media claims about zambia gas attacks linked riots lynchingssocial media claims about zambia gas attacks linked riots lynchings

The consequences were unmistakably real. Vigilante groups stopped, assaulted and killed people suspected of being “gassers”. Public claims at the time stated that more than 40 suspected attackers had died in mob violence, although the underlying incidents were poorly documented and not every reported attack was verified. The episode illustrates why “mass psychogenic illness” is not an adequate label: some people may have experienced symptoms triggered or intensified by fear, but the principal public event was a rumour-driven security panic and wave of lynching, not simply a contagious medical syndrome.[Fact Check AFP]factcheck.afp.comsocial media claims about zambia gas attacks linked riots lynchingssocial media claims about zambia gas attacks linked riots lynchings

Political rivalry amplified the scare. Supporters of competing parties accused one another of organising the attacks, while every ambiguous smell, stranger or nighttime disturbance could be folded into the same story. The speed of digital communication made correction difficult: a warning shared as a precaution became evidence that the alleged conspiracy was nationwide.

Mumbwa showed the pattern had not disappeared

In September 2023, the bodies of two men were found in Mumbwa District in circumstances that officials treated as suspected ritual killings. According to a ministerial statement, one victim’s body had been cut open and was missing his heart and genitals. After police detained a suspect, a crowd demanded that he be handed over for instant punishment. When officers refused, rioters burned public property, looted shops and killed a Tanzanian businessman and a Zambian businessman whom they suspected of involvement.[Parliament of Zambia]parliament.gov.zmParliament of ZambiaParliament of Zambia

This was not a panic created from nothing: two deaths required serious criminal investigation. The collective delusion lay in the crowd’s confidence that other named people were guilty without evidence. The government explicitly warned that innocent people could be targeted when communities replaced investigation with suspicion, and it increased the police presence as unrest spread towards other towns.[Parliament of Zambia]parliament.gov.zmParliament of Zambia

Mumbwa reveals the limits of simple explanations based on “superstition”. Fear became violent because it interacted with anger about crime and low confidence in the state’s ability to protect communities. Where police are seen as slow, corrupt or ineffective, a rumour can present mob action as the only available form of justice. The result is not the restoration of order but a second set of killings layered on top of the first.

Witchcraft belief, accusation and the law

Belief in witchcraft remains widespread in Zambia and coexists with Christianity rather than simply opposing it. A 2018 review by the Zambia Law Development Commission reportedly found that 79 per cent of respondents believed witchcraft existed. Such a figure does not show that most Zambians support violence or accept every allegation; it indicates that supernatural causation remains a plausible part of many people’s understanding of misfortune.[berkeley.edu]lawcat.berkeley.eduOpen source on berkeley.edu.

Zambia’s Witchcraft Act dates from 1914 and has been amended since independence. It criminalises certain claims and practices involving supposed supernatural power, including conduct calculated to cause fear or injury. The law reflects a colonial compromise: it does not need to prove that supernatural powers are objectively real, but it can punish people for claiming or pretending to exercise them, possessing specified charms, or accusing others under prohibited circumstances.[zambialii.org]zambialii.orgOpen source on zambialii.org.

This framework creates tension. Prosecuting fraudulent healers or people who threaten others through claims of magical power may offer protection. Yet a law framed around “witchcraft” can also appear to validate the idea that courts should adjudicate supernatural harm. Critics argue that criminal law should focus on demonstrable acts—fraud, assault, intimidation, cruelty or murder—while giving stronger protection to those accused of being witches.

Older people are particularly vulnerable. Zambian research has associated accusations with beating, expulsion from communities, property loss and psychological trauma. Behaviour caused by dementia, including confusion, wandering or personality change, may be misread as occult activity. Accusations can also provide a socially acceptable explanation for illness or death while concealing disputes over land, inheritance or family authority.[edu.pl]ojs.wsb.edu.plOpen source on edu.pl.

The danger is not belief by itself but the conversion of belief into an unanswerable charge. An accused person cannot easily prove that an invisible act never occurred. Once ordinary misfortune is treated as evidence of hidden malice, denial may itself be interpreted as further proof.

Witchcraft entered presidential politics

The continuing political force of supernatural accusation became unusually visible in a case involving President Hakainde Hichilema. Two men were arrested in December 2024 after police said they had been hired to use charms against the president. In 2025 they were convicted under the Witchcraft Act and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. Objects produced in the case reportedly included a live chameleon, powders and other charms.[AP News]apnews.comAP News Zambian police arrest 2 over alleged plot to bewitch President HichilemaAP News Zambian police arrest 2 over alleged plot to bewitch President HichilemaPublished: December 20, 2024

The case attracted attention because it placed supernatural claims inside a formal criminal process and a charged political environment. To supporters of prosecution, the defendants had taken payment and intended to frighten or harm. To critics, the trial demonstrated the ambiguity of a colonial law under which alleged magical conduct can become intertwined with the prosecution of political enemies. The case also showed that occult allegations are not confined to rural disputes: they remain a language through which national power, danger and legitimacy are discussed.[apnews.com]apnews.comOpen source on apnews.com.

What the evidence does and does not support

Zambia’s record supports several careful conclusions.

Large independent religious movements were real. Watch Tower and Lumpa were not rumours. They attracted substantial followings and sometimes rejected institutions claimed by colonial or nationalist authorities. But hostile terms such as “fanatics”, “sects” or “cults” often hid their social appeal and exaggerated their unity.

Some ritual-style murders were real crimes. Mutilated bodies and homicide investigations cannot be dismissed as collective fantasy. What usually remained unproven was the larger leap—from a particular killing to claims about a nationwide Satanist organisation, an ethnic group or a class of foreign traders.

Rumours repeatedly produced additional victims. In Mansa, Lusaka and Mumbwa, people with no established connection to the original killings were attacked or killed. The panic did not merely distort public understanding; it created new crimes.

Witchcraft accusations are socially meaningful without being reliable evidence. They can express fear of illness, envy of wealth, family conflict or distrust of political power. Understanding those meanings does not require accepting the alleged supernatural mechanism or excusing persecution.

Zambia-specific evidence for classic school-based mass psychogenic illness is comparatively thin. African schools elsewhere have experienced well-documented clusters of fainting, screaming or convulsions linked to stress and social contagion, but Zambia’s better-attested collective scares have centred on religious conflict, witchcraft, ritual murder and vigilantism. It would be misleading to import neighbouring cases and present them as Zambian history.[PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govOpen source on nih.gov.

Why these scares keep returning

The most convincing explanations combine belief with social conditions. Zambia’s Christian identity, independent churches and older ideas of invisible harm provide a vocabulary for interpreting evil. Economic inequality gives stories about occult wealth their emotional force. Violent or poorly explained deaths supply apparent confirmation. Distrust of police encourages instant justice. Radio, preaching and social media allow warnings to spread farther than corrections.

These forces do not make people passive prisoners of tradition. Zambian journalists, clergy, researchers, police officers, human-rights advocates and government officials have repeatedly challenged unsupported allegations. Churches have sometimes amplified Satanism stories, but religious leaders have also warned against using the label to defame rival congregations. The state has sometimes reinforced supernatural categories through the Witchcraft Act, yet it has also condemned mob justice and insisted on criminal evidence.

The lasting lesson is therefore not that Zambia is unusually prone to irrationality. It is that collective fear becomes dangerous when a plausible concern—a murder, an unexplained illness, political conflict or rapid social change—is joined to an accusation that cannot be tested before a crowd acts. Zambia’s history shows the importance of separating documented crime from rumour, autonomous religion from “cult” labelling, sincere belief from proof, and understandable fear from permission to persecute.

Amazon book picks

Further Reading

Books and field guides related to When Belief and Fear Reshaped Zambia. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.

Book

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

By Charles Mackay

Rating: 4.0/5 from 5 Google Books ratings

Background on collective belief and panic.

See on Amazon

Book

African religions and philosophy

By Mbiti, John S.

First published 1970. Subjects: Religion.

See on Amazon

Book

Africa's Tarnished Name

By Chinua Achebe

First published 2018. Subjects: Poetry (poetic works by one author).

See on Amazon

Book

The sociology of religion

By Max Weber

First published 1964. Subjects: Religion and sociology, Sociologie religieuse, Religion, Sociology.

See on Amazon

Browse more on Amazon:Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of CrowdsAfrican religions and philosophyAfrica's Tarnished Name

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Endnotes

1. Source: cambridge.org
Link:https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/sectarian-allegiance-political-authority-the-watch-tower-society-in-zambia-190735/A7B1DBD3ADB8A53A17A03F8E3FEA7970

2. Source: jstor.org
Title: Sectarian Allegiance & Political
Link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/159497

3. Source: cambridge.org
Link:https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/zambia-at-50-the-rediscovery-of-liberalism/C61E212FB5F6A23C9DDD48BBE1A889E3

4. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Alice Lenshina
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Lenshina

5. Source: africabib.org
Title: Rebellion or massacre?
Link:https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=313037213

6. Source: cambridge.org
Link:https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/comparative-studies-in-society-and-history/article/nationmaking-at-the-border-zambian-diplomacy-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo/08CE7F8654A2BFF7AF412BDA6CFBDDE5

7. Source: cambridge.org
Title: University Press & Assessment Nationalism and Nationalisation (Chapter 6)
Link:https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/living-for-the-city/nationalism-and-nationalisation/CADDF26D3DCB4FD31E7C5CDE1F7CB3AF

8. Source: resolve.cambridge.org
Title: postcolonial liberalism and the legal complex in zambia
Link:https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/7EB1D99E8A2DFCACA04C5FAC85B19444/9781139002981c12_p412-454_CBO.pdf/postcolonial_liberalism_and_the_legal_complex_in_zambia.pdf

9. Source: jstor.org
Link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/26795892

10. Source: allafrica.com
Link:https://allafrica.com/stories/199908230056.html

11. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Johanneke-Kroesbergen-Kamps/publication/367436858_Satanism_in_Zambia/links/651bfc1e3ab6cb4ec6b74649/Satanism-in-Zambia.pdf

12. Source: library.oapen.org
Link:https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/b7e75353-b4f1-452b-aeb7-993150c0e108/9781779952325.pdf

13. Source: reliefweb.int
Title: Relief Web Deadly riots “send a bad signal”
Link:https://reliefweb.int/report/zambia/deadly-riots-send-bad-signal

14. Source: reuters.com
Title: Riots rock Zambia’s capital after suspected ritual murders
Link:https://www.reuters.com/article/world/riots-rock-zambias-capital-after-suspected-ritual-murders-idUSKCN0XF18E/
Published: April 18, 2016

15. Source: reuters.com
Link:https://www.reuters.com/article/world/zambia-police-arrest-four-suspects-for-ritual-murders-that-sparked-riots-idUSKCN0Y11Y4/
Published: May 10, 2016

16. Source: globalpressjournal.com
Link:https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/zambia/riots-spread-lusaka-six-die-suspected-ritual-killings/index.html

17. Source: researchgate.net
Title: Research Gate Speaking of Satan in Zambia: Making cultural and personal
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367446419_Speaking_of_Satan_in_Zambia_Making_cultural_and_personal_sense_of_narratives_about_Satanism
Published: January 1, 2022

18. Source: researchgate.net
Title: Research Gate Chapter 2
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Johanneke-Kroesbergen-Kamps/publication/367437753_Satanism_and_the_African_worldview/links/651bfc823ab6cb4ec6b74659/Satanism-and-the-African-worldview.pdf

19. Source: factcheck.afp.com
Title: social media claims about zambia gas attacks linked riots lynchings
Link:https://factcheck.afp.com/social-media-claims-about-zambia-gas-attacks-linked-riots-lynchings

20. Source: parliament.gov.zm
Title: Parliament of Zambia
Link:https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/images/publication_docs/Ministrial%20Statement%20by%20Mr%20Mwiimbu%20-%20on%20alleged%20ritual%20killings%20in%20Mumbwa.pdf

21. Source: lawcat.berkeley.edu
Link:https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/661981

22. Source: zldc.org
Link:https://www.zldc.org/research-reports/

23. Source: zambialii.org
Link:https://zambialii.org/akn/zm/act/1993/26

24. Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3588562/

25. Source: resolve.cambridge.org
Link:https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/ED0258F467B81EDC42418DCE649683BB/9780511563171bib_p303-321_CBO.pdf/bibliography.pdf

26. Source: cambridge.org
Link:https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-church-history/article/to-suffer-grief-in-all-kinds-of-trials-persecution-and-martyrdom-in-the-african-church-in-the-twentieth-century/6521B1AFC504B3544CFB6C99331E9905

27. Source: resolve.cambridge.org
Title: nationmaking at the border zambian diplomacy in the democratic republic of congo
Link:https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/08CE7F8654A2BFF7AF412BDA6CFBDDE5/S001041751800052Xa.pdf/nationmaking_at_the_border_zambian_diplomacy_in_the_democratic_republic_of_congo.pdf

28. Source: resolve.cambridge.org
Title: independency in africa and asia
Link:https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/3A1D548B8F0B936195D7AFE737A6DE20/9781139054850c7_p107-128_CBO.pdf/independency-in-africa-and-asia.pdf

29. Source: resolve.cambridge.org
Link:https://resolve.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/7993724EDC1721A14B8342E63A0F0110/9780511563171c3_p131-183_CBO.pdf/19591966.pdf

30. Source: cambridge.org
Link:https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/disembodying-sovereignty-divine-kingship-in-central-african-historiography/D1845F8ED1F6930A2840F9B376E3219C

31. Source: jstor.org
Link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/26846768

32. Source: jstor.org
Link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/24566711

33. Source: jstor.org
Link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/26376814

34. Source: jstor.org
Link:https://www.jstor.org/content/pdf/oa_book_monograph/10.2307/j.ctt5vjthr.pdf

35. Source: Wikipedia
Title: List of mass panic cases
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_panic_cases

36. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Northern Rhodesia
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Rhodesia

37. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Lumpa Church
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumpa_Church
Published: October 1964

38. Source: Wikipedia
Title: Ritual killings in Zambia
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_killings_in_Zambia

39. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/408469970_Apartheid_Moral_Panics_Christian_Nationalism_Fake_Satanists_Busting_the_Myth_of_Occult_Crime_in_South_Africa

40. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/16368155_Epidemic_Hysteria_in_a_Zambian_School_The_Mysterious_Madness_of_Mwinilunga

41. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271759288_Mass_hysteria_among_South_African_primary_school_learners_in_Kwa-Dukuza_KwaZulu-Natal

42. Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256019981_Witchcraft_Accusations_and_Human_Rights_Case_Studies_from_Malawi

43. Source: reuters.com
Title: over 20 killed attack central mali village 2024 05 26
Link:https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/over-20-killed-attack-central-mali-village-2024-05-26/
Published: May 2024

44. Source: reuters.com
Link:https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW378130062026RP1/

45. Source: africabib.org
Link:https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=084557826

46. Source: history.com
Title: mysterious illnesses mass hysteria
Link:https://www.history.com/articles/mysterious-illnesses-mass-hysteria

47. Source: ora.ox.ac.uk
Link:https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid%3Aa54ec9cf-31da-4172-96c8-d167162f9c8f

48. Source: tandfonline.com
Link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03086534.2021.1985218

49. Source: conradmbewe.com
Title: Conrad Mbewe They are Satanists!
Link:https://www.conradmbewe.com/2011/09/they-are-satanists.html

50. Source: aljazeera.com
Title: zambia refugees attacked after ritual murders
Link:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/4/22/zambia-refugees-attacked-after-ritual-murders

51. Source: apnews.com
Link:https://apnews.com/article/20aead81a370584eb4373474212206fe

52. Source: parliament.gov.zm
Link:https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Witchcraft%20Act.pdf

53. Source: ojs.wsb.edu.pl
Link:https://ojs.wsb.edu.pl/index.php/bgs/article/view/27199045.181.4/648

54. Source: beingpatient.com
Link:https://beingpatient.com/dementia-zambia-addiz/

55. Source: apnews.com
Title: AP News Zambian police arrest 2 over alleged plot to bewitch President Hichilema
Link:https://apnews.com/article/33d02420755f02c931d7908fb6f9a282
Published: December 20, 2024

56. Source: apnews.com
Link:https://apnews.com/article/ff02d278bae0133fed72effb1373c334
Published: September 15, 2025

57. Source: theeastafrican.co.ke
Title: zambias witchcraft conviction debate on colonial era laws 5197548
Link:https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/southern-africa/zambias-witchcraft-conviction-debate-on-colonial-era-laws-5197548

58. Source: aljazeera.com
Title: zambia deploys troops to quell gas attacks by criminal gangs
Link:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/2/14/zambia-deploys-troops-to-quell-gas-attacks-by-criminal-gangs

Additional References

59. Source: theguardian.com
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/15/two-men-found-guilty-of-witchcraft-plot-to-kill-zambias-president

60. Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/HotFmZambia/posts/three-men-were-yesterday-murdered-by-an-instant-justice-mob-in-gwembe-of-souther/10156995090661220/

61. Source: ohchr.org
Link:https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/ie-albinism/witchcraft-and-human-rights

62. Source: acme-journal.org
Link:https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/889/745
Published: January 1964

63. Source: amulufeblog.com
Title: belief in witchcraft defence against
Link:https://www.amulufeblog.com/2024/10/belief-in-witchcraft-defence-against.html

64. Source: britishonlinearchives.com
Title: zambia northern rhodesia 1920 1945
Link:https://britishonlinearchives.com/collections/79/volumes/562/zambia-northern-rhodesia

65. Source: businessinsider.com
Title: was mass hysteria behind a mysterious middle school fainting epidemic 2023 6
Link:https://www.businessinsider.com/was-mass-hysteria-behind-a-mysterious-middle-school-fainting-epidemic

66. Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/ZambianHistoryInPictures/videos/alice-lenshinas-uprising-of-lumpa-sect-in-zambia/2621275631507379/

67. Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/SoSickSaysSo/videos/does-zambia-law-believe-in-witchcraftthe-witchcraft-act-in-zambia-is-a-law-intro/1138586005148139/

68. Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/Diggers.News/posts/dont-take-advantage-of-ritual-killing-unrest-to-loot-saccord-by-natasha-sakalaza/1052456785130845/