The Supreme Court of Appeal has reserved its ruling to a later date on an application by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to summarily dismiss an appeal by former Minister of Home Affairs Uladi Mussa, former Central Region Immigration officer David Kwanjana and businessperson Peter Katasya.

The three want their October 2020 conviction and subsequent sentencing for issuing citizenships to foreign nationals overturned.

ACB Director of Legal and Prosecution Services Chrispin Khunga argues that the convicts did not file skeleton arguments within the prescribed time and that the grounds for appeal were not specific.

On the other hand, Mussa and Kwanjana’s lawyer Michael Goba Chipeta says the application cannot stand apparently because it is “frivolous and vexatious”.

“The court accepted our documents and the appeal was given a number. If the court was not satisfied, it would not have given the case a number,” Chipeta said.

Born in Uganda and later granted a Malawian citizenship, Katasya had the citizenship status, together with those of his dependants, revoked after the conviction.

His lawyer Ralph Mhone says Katasya also wants the citizenships reinstated.