In white fedora, Madonna jets in to claim another African child

Published on Monday 30 March 2009 01:03

MADONNA is due to appear before a court in Malawi today to seek the controversial adoption of a four-year-old African girl, despite the concerns of her uncles and the charity Save the Children.

The singer, who arrived in the country by private jet yesterday, dressed casually and sporting a white fedora, wants a sister for David Banda, the Malawian toddler she adopted three years ago. Mercy James, four, whose mother died shortly after birth and whose father is unknown, has been raised in an orphanage, the Kondanani children's village, where Madonna first met and fell in love with her.

Despite a government ruling banning non-residents from adoption, the singer hopes to be able to leave the country later this week with the latest addition to her family after securing a temporary custody order.

Last night, Madonna and her entourage had taken over the Kumbali Lodge hotel in Lilongwe where Mercy James was also being looked after by a nanny from the orphanage.

The little girl's two uncles, Peter Baneti and John Ngalande, who said they were too poor to look after Mercy James, said they were concerned they would never see her again. They were planning to appear before the court today to secure an agreement that she would return to Malawi when she is older.

Mr Baneti, a subsistence fisherman, said: "We never wanted to let Mercy go. She is part of our extended family and our culture. Now we have been persuaded Mercy can have a better, healthier life somewhere else in the world with this rich white woman."

Questions were asked after Madonna and her then-husband Guy Ritchie took David Banda to their London home in 2006 while the child was 13 months old, and her latest quest for a sister for David has led to renewed criticism.

Mercy's grandmother Lucy Chekechiwa, 61, initially hit out at the star, saying: "It is stealing. I won't let her go." Mrs Chekechiwa claimed it had been agreed the child would go to her when she turned six.

People close to the case said the girl's relatives had now consented to the adoption. Madonna and the girl's uncle are expected to appear in court today to sign adoption papers.

Austin Msowoya, legal researcher with Malawi's Law Commission, played down concerns, saying the best interests of the child needed to be taken into account – whether this was staying in an orphanage in Malawi or getting "an education with Madonna".

He said: "When you look at these two options, then perhaps it becomes in the best interests of the child to allow the adoption if the parents and the guardians consent to it."

However, Save the Children said orphans should be cared for by extended family in their home country and suggested international adoption can make matters worse.

Dominic Nutt, a spokesman for the charity, said: "The best place for a child is in his or her family in their home community.

"Most children in orphanages have one parent still living, or have an extended family that can care for them in the absence of their parents."

Madonna's spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, who has not commented on the adoption reports, said the star would not respond to the charity's statement.

The southern African nation of Malawi has strong links with Scotland through the work of Dr David Livingstone, who attempted to abolish the slave trade there, but remains one of the world's most impoverished.

Ravaged by Aids, the life expectancy is just 44 years. The country has an infant mortality rate of close to 90 per 1,000 live births, according to 2009 estimates.