Father of Madonna's adopted Malawian child against anti-adoption campaign

The biological father of the Malawian child that pop-star Madonna intends to adopt has come out to criticize the country's human rights groups who have teamed up to challenge the adoption in court.

The baby's father, Yohane Banda, made the statement to journalists on Wednesday at his home village Lipunga located in Malawi's border district of Mchinji, about 120 km west of the capital Lilongwe.

"Leave my baby David alone! Where were these people when my child was struggling in the orphanage," retorted Banda in response to the mounting campaign by the Human Rights Consultative Committee, a group of 70 human rights organizations who are protesting Madonna's adoption of David.

The Malawi High Court last week granted Madonna and her husband film-maker Guy Ritchie, who were visiting the impoverished Southern African country, an 18 month temporary custody of the baby. During the coming 18 months, the couple will be assessed on whether to be granted full adoption or not.

The 13-month-old baby taken from the Home of Care Orphanage Center in Mchinji, has since been flown out of Malawi to join the pop star in Britain.

However, the rights groups have teamed up to protest against the adoption and threatened to ask the courts to nullify the adoption process, saying that it is illegal.

The rights groups hold that Malawi adoption laws do not allow international adoption and stipulate that if one wants to adopt a Malawian child, one has to stay with the adopted child within Malawi for a period of between 18 to 24 months for Child Welfare officers to assess the suitability of the adoptive family.

The government has, however, stood its ground that as far as it was concerned, no law has been broken or bent in the processing of David's adoption by Madonna.

Director of Social Welfare Penston Kilembe told Xinhua that the Malawi government looked at the child's best interest when approving the adoption.

Baby David was put into the orphanage after his father Banda, a 32-year-old peasant farmer, failed to look after the infant after his 28-year-old wife Marita died barely seven days after giving birth to the child.

"I was alone with the baby. I had no money, I couldn't buy him milk, that's why I surrendered him to the orphanage," Banda said, wondering whether the rights groups would be happy if the baby was back in the orphanage and not with Madonna in Britain.

Source: Xinhua