The father of a Malawian girl being adopted by Madonna says he has dropped his fight to get the child back and has urged the U.S. pop star to take good care of her.
Malawi’s Supreme Court on Friday approved Madonna’s application to adopt a second child from the country, overturning a lower court ruling.
James Kambewa, the father of 4-year-old Mercy James, originally said he opposed the adoption.
However, he told Reuters on Saturday he had decided not to fight the case, asking only that Mercy be brought up knowing he was her biological father.
“Let the child go … My only plea to Madonna is that she should seriously look after the child,” he said in an interview.
“I am asking Madonna to make sure that, while the child is growing, she must be informed of me as her biological father … she really must know that while she is far away the father is still alive.”
A Malawian court ruled in April that Madonna could not adopt Mercy because she was not a resident of the southern African country.
The Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying the child, who has been living in an orphanage, would have a better life with the singer. She never lived with Kambewa.
“When the child was born I was never told,” he said.
Rights groups have accused the government of giving Madonna special treatment by skirting laws preventing non-residents from adopting children.
The government came under fire in 2006 after Madonna, who has supported orphans in the country through her Raising Malawi charity, adopted 13-month-old David Banda.
Officials at the charity said Mercy was expected to be flown out of Malawi this week.
source: reuters
Sticky & Sweet 
Tom Munro 
Revolver 
Hope For Haiti 
Sticky & Sweet 
Madonna - Celebration 
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration 
I Am Because We Are 
Filth and Wisdom 
I Am Because We Are 
Miles Away 
Sticky & Sweet 
Madonna Confessions 
Madonna 2009 
Give It 2 Me 
Give It 2 Me 
Hard Candy 
Hard Candy 
4 Minutes 
4 Minutes 
Can you provide more information on this? I want to have all of the facts before i tweet this. Jonas Brothers are freaking awesome btw, lol.
I think Madonna should marry Lenny Kravitz.
What a nice man , he was 21 when he got the mother pregant she was 12.sick
you’re the ageist sick butt head!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN3Vg9Pg6vs&feature=related
mercy is healthy and she is alone.many people from malawi is been commanting all the sites saying they all love madonna in malawi and that little girl is all alone in that orphanage cause even her grandmother doesnt visite her.madonna has a big heart.she buld a school,,an hospital with her own money.they really move M
hey guys are u crazy.she was the celebrity that gave more money in 2008 for charity.according to the forbes.get a life.she is the one that actually helps.everybody is happy for her.mercy father wants money.and they dont even know if he is really her faher.madonna is amazing,her tour reherasels are amazingly good.ive been talking to her dancers on twitter
does anyone have any idea how many of her brothers and sisters Madonna is in contact with??
1
Melanie.
Used to be Christopher, as well, but we all know how that relationship is now. ;-)
why only 1 ?? thats sad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrQHE2KfF4&feature=related
ok ok wack jobs quiet down and take your meds.
Is Mercy gonna act like that sour puss Angie and Brad adopted?
why havent the funky bunch been to Kaballah Wallah lately?
They have.
They now use a garage to get in..
Awwww what da madder? The Crazy, Funky Fedora Wearing Bunch got scared wit all the photographers being around.
Awwww…
Mercys gonna look so cute in a fedora
I wonder if Jesus shed a tear when they heard the good news?..if he did Madge will marry him.
finally we are getting to the truth!
“I wish other rich people would come here to adopt orphans like Madonna has done,’ he said.”
Do I have to spell it out for you?
Madge has soiled Malawi for adoptions.
I have bigger and better tits than Madonna!
uughhhhhh but your face my dear…..
and all you back fat
I hope the first thing Mercy does upon her arrival is take a big shit in Madonnas closet.
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL too much, funny……
The decision to grant pop star Madonna the right to adopt a second Malawian child has been warmly received by many in the southern African state.
The singer’s victory at Malawi’s Supreme Court of Appeal led the news on local radio stations and prompted a positive response on phone-in shows.
But James Kambewa, who is claiming paternity of the four-year-old girl, remains opposed to the adoption.
‘I won’t give up the fight,’ he said, adding that the court disregarded him.
‘I wrote to the court challenging the adoption because I am ready and willing to take care of my child,’ said Mr Kambewa.
‘How can they continue referring to her as an orphan when I told them I am there for her?’
However, Mr Kambewa was a lone voice of opposition, with most Malawians welcoming the court’s decision to allow Madonna to adopt Chifundo ‘Mercy’ James.
‘She is taking Mercy out of a life of destitution; she could have lived in the orphanage until she was old enough to start prostitution,’ said Michael Jonas, a curio seller in Blantyre, Malawi’s second-largest city.
‘I am happy for her and the world should ignore the so-called father. We have lots of fathers but very few parents.’
‘I am happy for Mercy,’ said Martha Banda, a university student in Blantyre.
‘Those who are against the adoption are just plain selfish. How can one say she is better off in an orphanage?’
Chifundo’s uncle, Peter Baneti, said her family were ‘very happy’.
‘We, as a family, have been anxiously awaiting this ruling. We are very happy for Chifundo,’ he said.
He added that Mr Kembewa could ‘jump into Lake Malawi’ for all he cared.
‘We don’t know this James boy. He was not there when my sister was pregnant; he didn’t attend her funeral. How can he just come out to claim the baby? Does he want to steal my niece?’
Mercy’s teenage mother died of child-birth complications a few days after giving birth.
Mr Kambewa admitted he had denied responsibility for his girlfriend’s pregnancy. He met the 14-year-old Mwandida Mwaunde in secondary school, but deserted her when she fell pregnant in 2006.
‘I was young then, but now I am old and responsible,’ he said.
Yet even those in Malawi initially opposed to the adoption appear to have had a change of heart.
‘We are happy today’s ruling has clarified issues of inter-country adoptions,’ said Maxwell Matewere, Executive director of Eye of the Child – a child rights organisation which previously expressed reservations about the adoption.
Frank Phiri, a resident in Bvumbwe – where the Mercy orphanage is situated – said Malawi has millions of orphans and one orphan less must be viewed as good news.
‘I wish other rich people would come here to adopt orphans like Madonna has done,’ he said.
‘Governments should encourage people to adopt children because living in an orphanage is tough.’
According to the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare Development, there are close to 2 million orphans in Malawi, a quarter of whom have lost their parents as a direct result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Madonna, one of the most successful stars in pop history, first met Mercy in October 2006 at Kondanani Children’s Village, just outside Blantyre, the same year she began the process of adopting David Banda.
From BBC News By Raphael Tenthani
interesting…..tick tock tick tock…
I can no read so long breath
I’m pretty sure they are damn happy!
HELLOOOOO!!!
A woman that is worth a billion dollars, just adopted your child. Who in the hell wouldn’t be happy?
Articles like this amaze me.
Of course they are happy!
And again the father, he was NEVER given the opportunity to be her father. The court denied him that right.
And this:
‘I wish other rich people would come here to adopt orphans like Madonna has done,’ he said.
IS ALL THAT NEEDED TO BE SAID!
The court didn’t deny him the right, he did it to himself. He walked out on the mother once he found out she was pregnant, then never showed up once the child was born. He claims he never knew she survived… really? Stuff like that gets around in little towns. Mercy was in an orphanage for 3-4 years and if Madonna had never expressed interest in her, this man would have never showed up.
A sperm donor does not a father make!
I have inside information from the M camp – summer tour rehearsals are going extremely well but some bitchy queen is spreading false rumors stating the opposite.
u couldnt dance your way out of a paper bag!
I have inside info from the M camp that things are not going well during the summer tour rehearsals. People are saying that someone has been very grumpy bitchy and horrible to be around lately
shut up.ive been talking to anrbooie her dancer and he says the rehearsels are amazing and they all love madonna
iron clad confidentiality agreement..I doubt any truth can be revealed.
I wish the entire Ciccone clan …love, understanding, enlightenment,good health and plenty of peace.
Mercys father couldnt fight back anymore..his arms were tired from holding the two huge bags of money he was given.
bend over Bones I have a bone for you
He was never proven to be the father so if anyone other than Madonna had a right to her, it would have been the uncles and grandmother, not this gold-digger. If Madonna wasn’t wealthy, he wouldn’t give a shit about his ‘poor’ Mercy.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/89821/1991-milli-madonna.jhtml#id=1533155
Awesome…thanks for posting that, Farto. Amazing how much she has changed and I’m not really referring to the physical.
your welcome Scott
Thanks God!
Super!
super delicious scrumcious dorkville.
I heard the first time Mercy met Madonna she pointed her little finger and called her the Boogie Man ..is this true? anyone else heard this story from an insider?
if your momma would get her big fat dimply ass out of the way, maybe we could see!
I SUPPORT MERCYS DAD AND GRANDMA.THEY WERE ROBBED BY A RICH OLD WHITE WOMAN WITH NO MORALS OR STABLE MENTAL HEALTH.
fuck u beotch whore
The grandma and the uncles approved of the adoption you idiot! This man claiming to be the father has never been a part of her life.
People need to get their fact straight about all of this, BEFORE any of you can make judgments and accusations.
First off, Chifundo was given to an orphanage, after her mother passed from complications of giving birth to her. Her grandmother placed her in the orphanage on the grounds that she would be returned to her at the age of six. Why the change of heart?
Second, Chifundo was first spotted by M herself, then she bought Guy back with her(about 3 weeks later) and that is when she decided she wanted Chifundo. Only there was an obstacle…Chifundos grandmother WOULD NOT ALLOW M TO ADOPT HER. That is when she went off and decided on David. But she has never forgotten Chifundo. M went on a mission with this little girl.
Third, some of Davids adoption ruling was based on M getting him back to good health. Remember when she spotted him, and he was ill? She got him the medical attention and medicines that he needed to get healthy. Look at him today.
Fourth, There is a law in place in Malawi, that states that you MUST do an 18 month stay. OR NO adoption, correct? Why is it that celebrities and the like, can bend this rule? Why is it that you and I, WILL HAVE to do the 18 month stay? What makes them any different than you and I, if they are basing their decisions on parenting? It doesn’t make any sense. The only time the rule is bent is when the child is ill. That is it.
Fifth, Chifundo was/is NOT sick! The lil girl is a healthy 4 year old. The rules should have NEVER been bent.
Sixth, The majority of orphans in Malawi either have a parent and/or relatives living. THIS MAKES THEM NON ORPHANS! They are there only till a certain age. So yes, they can go back home and work(that is their culture, correct?)and help take care of the rest of the family that is there.
Seventh, there is this man, that is claiming to be
Chifundos father. There is no proof of knowing that he is Chifundos father, BECAUSE the court would NOT allow him to prove it. He was willing to give a blood test, but the court rejected his plea to do so. Odd, don’t you think? And now, all of a sudden he is giving up. Why? Cause he knows it will be a loosing battle. EXTREMELY poor man vs. EXTREMELY powerful woman. But if the court allowed him to do the blood work, to prove that he is indeed Chifundos father, what do you all think would have happened?
And my take in all of this is, if M truly wanted to make a difference, and make a childs life happy, why not adopt a sick child? Hrmm…with all the money she has, she can at least help him/her. Instead of adopting healthy, with-relatives still alive, children. Why must she do this? Or better yet, let her adopt a child with AIDS, and give that child a chance at life(even though it may be only for a short few months..or it can go on living a productive life) give them something that they truly would have never thought would happen to them. That would be the most un-selfish, un-wanting, compassionate, humanitarian accomplishment she would have done.
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO.!!….well said.
So your saying its the way of life in Malawi for a kid to be born into an orphange and stay there until their six? I dont understand what you think changes for the family between birth and six. Do they all of a sudden have the capacity to remove the child from the orphanage and look after them.
…meanwhile here you sit on your fat ass critizing others and passing judgements.
mmmmmmmm fat ass!
As unlike you, I know my FACTS!
As I stated, Chifundo was put in the orphanage because of her mothers passing. Chifundos grandmother put her there, HER GRANDMOTHER IS THE ONE that wanted her back at the age of six. NOT the orphanage.
Chifundos grandmother was DEAD SET against this adoption. FOR 3 years…and within the past few months, THAT IS WHEN SHE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART! Why all of a sudden?
Please re-reread what I posted, BEFORE you make YOUR accusations!
<_<
Madonna (or anyone else for that matter) would not be allowed to adopt a child from a foreign country who is HIV+ because people who are HIV+ are banned from entering the United States.
mercy is healthy and she is alone.many people from malawi is been commanting all the sites saying they all love madonna in malawi and that little girl is all alone in that orphanage cause even her grandmother doesnt visite her.madonna has a big heart.she buld a school,,an hospital with her own money
Also, I don’t see how the 18 month rule and a child being sick have anything to do with one another. If a child is really that sick, they certainly can’t get on a plane and fly thousands of miles to the U.S. That wouldn’t be good for their health. If a child is sick, wouldn’t it make more sense to fly doctors and medicine to Malawi to take care of them and make them better, rather than flying them out of the country.
It’s not about physical health alone. It’s also about emotional well being. A child needs a family, and not be left in an orphanage.
From what I understand the 18 month rule isn’t really as cut and dried as you said. The world is a global community now and these rules of residency in one country are outdated. The most important is the best interests of the child, which is to be adopted by a loving family.
I never said take the child out of the country, now did I?
She can give it ALL, Still with the child being left in the country.
She did it with David, correct?
she not adopting any sick baby.It would shatter the illusion of perfectness she tries to feed to the public.
if madonna would EVERYTHING you’ve said STILL you’d find something to critisize,but good u know and write that these are YOUR facts.
“People need to get their fact straight about all of this, BEFORE any of you can make judgments and accusations.”
Well, I guess just Mercy will have the ONLY fair and straight opinion about all this in some years ahead. In the meantime I think we all should just shut the F up.
How come you never see Madonna around fat people?
I think in her head Madonnas a fat person.
LADY GAGA IS A REAL UGLY HO
do Madonna kids go to school?…or home schooled?..we never see pics of them leaving a school etc….
of course they go to school.earlier this year we saw pics of madonna going to a french school in nyc
Madonna doesn’t call the paparazzi to have her picture taken with her kids and their school unlike other celebrities.
´cause we´re living in a material world
“How much does that handbag, I mean child cost?”
and today we are having a grease my palms discount.
fuck off mercy father all u want is money.even mercy grandmother dont beleieve in u
http://perezhilton.com/?p=56849&cp=3#comments
first.mercyu has no parent.he may be alive but he only showed up now.everybody thought he was death.so for me she still orphan cause he cant be her father,cause a father cares about their kids.madonna is doing great.go ahead madonna by the way kill gaga please
nothingaboutmadonna.com’
the accessorize yourself tour!
tickets on sale now!
so does this mean that David and Mercy will have NO CHOICE but to be doctors and lawyers or something respectable becuase their superstar mother will DEMAND that they do something good for their country? What if lil Mercy wants to be a risque pop singer with no morals? or David a rich playboy ?
much happinees and love to Madonna and her new daughter.
Miss Madonna so happy up on tippy top mountian Mercy be Madonna pretty daisy cup purse fairy.
over rainbow
Instead of all this baby stealing why doesnt madonna set these families up and help them get them back on their feet? These children would be very happy with such an arrangement and their families could at least feel good about themselves. Madonna could do that for like what? $5,000?…..Madonnas so self involved she doesnt see the bigger picture.She could do better for this country.
are u kiding??madonna heles tyhis country.she build an hospital a school and an orp+ahane with her own money.their presidnt siad madonna helped more than 25 thousand orphans.and u are saying she doesnt help?????she has afundation call raising malawi were she gaves them lots of helps.mercy has no family,she lives alone since her birth.what madonna did was amazing
and NONE of it comes without attachments or entanglements….all of the schools etc that she has built will all be REQUIRED to teach and promote KABALLAH!! Its a FACT!
“I am a$king Madonna to make $ure that, while the child i$ growing, $he mu$t be informed of me a$ her biological father … $he really mu$t know that while $he i$ far away the father i$ $till alive.”
it’s all about money in the end.remember me ,beloving daughter when u get ur trustfund.
having a daughter like this is like winning the lotery and don’t even bother gambling.JACKPOT!
if anyone is a money grubbing con..its Madonna!
at least she worked for it….
the father has already hit the lottery….YOU KNOW that M PAID him off BIG TIME already to SHUT UP….just like Davids father….dont lie to yourself, cash has exchanged hands already.
really..did she give them money…huumm….looks like these father has no morals to raise their children once they sold them.
its like beating a dead horse….
he doesn’t deserve mercy. he only became interested in her after he found out a rich white woman wanted to adopt her. fuck him.
wake up! Mercy is NOT an orphan..she was weeded out by M’s team and THEN they found out there were relatives..You know that M is not keeping up with these children knowing their relatives or country. Instead she will bring them up as brainwashed American Kaballah elitest snobs.
frankie
u should go to a site called ‘nothingaboutmadonna.com’ cause that’s what u know about her.
sure and you check out:
eatmycock.com
who cares if mercy has living relatives? why should madonna as an adoptive mother be treated any differently from any other adoptive mother in the world? geez, before madonna’s adoption i never heard anyone say that an adoptive parent should keep a child’s relatives in their lives. why should madonna be held to another standard? mercy is HER daughter now and if she doesn’t want particular people aroung mercy then it’s her right as HER MOTHER to keep those people away. madonna doesn’t owe mercy’s relatives anything. mercy may have relatives, but she was in an orphanage, NOT in their homes, so therefore SHE IS ABSOLUTELY AN ORPHAN. get a brain.
Madonna should be helping to keep these families together if she GENUINELY wants to help this country.
End of story.
yes she is cause her father only show up now.everybody thought he was death cause he never visited mercy,not once moron
Actually remidelino, it is the other way around in Malawi.
MOST children that are in orphanages, in Malawi, do have one parent living and/or have other family members alive. So that means they are NOT orphans.
PERIOD!
And in this case…Chifundo has both!
well then UnderThePiscesSpell, since yer the all-knowing one, why don’t you go to malawi and put yer alternatives to practice instead of criticizing people who are actually trying to make a difference?
Just a little true story I had an argument with a french journalist for a tv show wich could be compare to the things we can read on the tabloids anyway I told the guy wich was and is still arrasing Madonna on his show about madonna first adoption. Then I asked the guy why he doesn’t speak about what Madonna went through after loosing the first child she wanted to adopt from AIDS : his answer was very clear : It doesn’t make audience …. So for these people who leave trough these shows and magazines be aware of the informations you receive the more you ll ask for darkness the more they ll give it to you. But what about getting the true information and why not simply leave your lifes and try to be a little bit more positive so we can all leave together. Just a though…
YAWN…ya done?
Didn’t I replied to you on the previous post ???
and i told you to stop boring us then too!…got it Suga?
Do you know everybody on this website ? if only one person understand the meaning of the message I m happy with it so post to someone else please
Mersy lived in a children’s home. While Madonna did not want Mercy to adopt her father was still on Mersy.
What??
WHY WHY?? Madonna have to adopt kids when they parents still alive??? if she want to adopt she should adopt a kid without family, Madonna is a 50 years old woman dating a 22 years boy!!! just been divorced and now she’s touring??? I don’t know how she won the case $$$$ who will take care of the kids while she’s on tour… of course…. the nannies…
cuz shes a greedy wench
Shut up!
The fact that he adopts a child who still have the family does not mean that she is a greedy!
Mersy lived in a children’s home. While Madonna did not want Mercy to adopt her father was still on Mersy.
Riiight… Like wanting to adopt a child and save it from dying by the time it’s a teen-ager is greedy.
You morons crack me up…
Mercy IS NOT an orphan…this is a bunch of bullocks on Madonnas part!
Have you even READ anything on this subject? Even the grandparents don’t believe or acknowledge that the so-called Father, is really the Father. If a child has no parents and is in an orphanage, it’s an ORPHAN. There is your verbal spanking for the week, Stevie. I know you like them.
grandparents = NOT AN ORPHAN!
spank spank..mmmmmm..lol
abandoned at an orphanage = orphan
i’m sure if my mother have died after my bith and my father would have disapeard my grandma immediately would take me home no matter howw bad things were for her.
This makes me uncomfortable…..I find it very sad.
me too farto, somethings seems wrong with this whole situation. Yet all the madonna wannabees cant see str8.
madonna is amazing.huge in all the meanings
he doessnt care about mercy.he never visited her at that orphanage.all he wants is money
“When the child was born I was never told,” he said.
He was probably never told, because he isn’t her Father. Even the rest of the family has said that they don’t believe he is Mercy’s Father.
Even Mercy family support the adoption but can we blame the guy who’s trying to get some cash out this situation his might be very poor so nobody’s to be judge and certainly not Madonna wich will for sure give a safe future to little Mercy. She’s taking good care of David and sure she’ll do the same with Mercy.
yes the constant threat of stalkers provides a very safe environment/prison.