Malawi threatened on Thursday to arrest protesting villagers blocking construction of Madonna’s multi-million dollar girls academy, a new controversy for the singer in the African country where she has adopted two children.
About 140 villagers are demanding more money for land the government has leased to Madonna’s charity – Raising Malawi – for 99 years.
District Commissioner for Lilongwe Charles Kalemba, other senior government officials and Raising Malawi failed to reach an agreement in talks with representatives of the villagers on Thursday in a bid to resolve the dispute.
“If we cannot agree on this and if you cannot understand that this is government land, then I will have no choice but tell police to arrest you people for blocking development work on the site,” Kalemba told the village chief, Chinkhota.
Madonna launched the construction of the school last month and pledged to build similar facilities in other countries if the project succeeds.
The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls — in Chinkhota village about 15 km (10 miles) outside the capital Lilongwe — is expected to be completed in two years and will admit 500 girls from the small southern African country’s 28 districts. The construction is expected to cost $15 million.
source: reuters
Madonna - Celebration 
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration
Madonna - Celebration 
I Am Because We Are 
Sticky & Sweet 
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
They May be presented in the future much needed dutiful citizens and put in to circulation a great community for your villages good deeds.
I think a broader more wide reaching program would have been more beneficial like maybe FEEDING THE STARVING POPULATION.But its more difficult to brainwash people into a certain way of thinking that way…Kabbalah lies beneath all of this to manipulate a portion of the population to later make their beliefs more widespread……a training camp.
You dumb ass. Hand outs (such as just giving people food) only go so far, but hand ups (training, education, opportunities, life skills, farming skills, etc) have longer, more widespread impact. You can spend billions and billions of dollars simply feeding the millions of poor in Malawi, but that will get you nowhere. You know how the saying goes… “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.” The organization focuses not only on clothing and feeding thousands, but educating them, teaching them skills so they can support themselves, help their communities, and not be dependent on aid for the rest of their lives.
yes! JUST FEED THEM LIKE THEY WERE PIGS…that’s the truth about ‘helping’ someone..some things u really like that u had never read..
its kind of u Xen to preach to someone and then call them an ass for expressing their own beliefs.Your a fraud and dont know yourself.Its people like u, that are the reason for starving people in this world.
CathyBo, you are obviously too pea-brained to understand complicated thoughts, I cannot waste my time explaining logical ways of thinking to you. If you had actually comprehended what I typed, you’d find a solution to poverty, which goes beyond just feeding people, but you are another idiot blabbing on without any actual knowledge.
watch the doc on utube…kaballah reps stole the land from its rightful owners after they greased the plams of the Malawian goverment.
The bottom line here is that it’s none of anyone’s business what Madonna does with her charitable efforts. I’m still amazed that some people on this site are criticizing her for doing something GOOD! Something tells me that Madonna herself did not broker any deals to lease the land in question and left it to local experts who are now encountering problems. That’s life but I’m sure not of Madonna’s doing. Constructive criticism or just plain whining – it’s negative and ridiculous in this situation. I would love to know what you naysayers have done to help less fortunate people, whether in Africa or elsewhere. I’m definitely not a Madonna ass-kisser but how you folks are getting on her case for this is just s-t-u-p-i-d.
Sorry Scot buy you are stupid. We are not naysayers. We just think WITH Madonna, and suggesting she might take a different route. I am more and more surprised how black and white the fans here think. Do you not have you own brains? Think for yourself! Just because she is doing something good, does not mean she could not do something BETTER. Don’t go for second best. Right?
That’s what I’m talking about Martha. Who are you to tell anyone how to be “better” in their charitable efforts? If you want her to take a different route, then shut your trap and YOU take that route…although I’m sure Madonna would be just so grateful to get your brilliant advice on the subject and to know that you think WITH her.
Why are all you people so narrow-minded and not open to discussion? It is scary. the slightest notion of contsructive criticism and you guys begin to shout that I ’should keep my mouth shut’. Brrrr, scary people. Nazi / dictator type. You Scott you are like that, and Cal and Carlos. Bunch of dictators.Who are you to tell anybody to ’shut up’? This is a free world and we can express FREELY what we think.
the difference is Oprah didnt steal the land!.
Neither did Madonna, she leased it from the government. Read the article.
If you know what Madonna has been working on, you would know she has helped feed, clothe, and educate thousands, this is just another school- this time a specialty school to develop doctors, scientists, and others who work in the math & science fields because there are so few in the country. The school will educate 500 girls each year, so over the years thousands will receive a specialized education and will be able to go back to their villages and care for their communities. She is working with specialists, she does not need to be a specialist herself.
interesting…..when oprah did THE SAME THING no one critisized her….
Ignorance. You people should know better.
Madonna is trying to give some education to those people; you can blame their ignorance on poverty ;How about you Martha and curious? you have even a computer to write your stupidity .
Carlos, I am getting so tired at you and your shouting at other people on this site. If your read my post well, it was constructive criticism and I would love to advise Madonna on how to to make effective use of her money as I studied African societies for long. What do you do Carlos, only coming here to shout at other people telling them to leave? poor you. Very negative person.
Curious, Martha u are such petty human beings. A woman wants to help some girls. If u haven’t realized thus far, those girls are human beings who happen to be the motor of a society, and more if they are kids walking their path to future adults. Adults are the ones who are responsible for that, just like adults now are being responsible of creating all this fuzz in Africa.
You 2 come here to try to seem so cultured into Africa’s reality when u yet do not know that many of those adults abuse their own kids and use money to get drunk rather than protecting their own kids and treat girls like a third class human beings. And you spit over a woman who is trying to give a litle help?. You should feel ashamed of calling urselves human beings, morons!
Darling, I am not spitting at all about Madonna. If you had read my post well, I said that she is full of good intentions. But she is not an expert on development, so its normal that she does not know how to go about it. Malawi is the poorest country in the world. So why use 15 million to educate 500 girls? Of course that is going to give tensions within Malawi society. Investments should be aimed at lifting the whole population, rather than some happy few, when the rest is dying. But sweetheart, we are hardly ‘petty human beings’,that is a very silly way to react to constructive criticism. If you had read my post well, I stated that Madonna’s intentions are very good. But she is not a development specialist!
Well, if you know what Madonna has been working on, you would know she has helped feed, clothe, and educate thousands, this is just another school- this time a specialty school to develop doctors, scientists, and others who work in the math & science fields because there are so few in the country. The school will educate 500 girls each year, so over the years thousands will receive a specialized education and will be able to go back to their villages and care for their communities. She is working with specialists, she does not need to be a specialist herself.
Martha, you are the one who can not take it.
I’m sure you have the solution for the problems.
And I read your post well, you sound like G. BUsh
Madonna has no clue what she is doing. Building a top-exclusive school for 500 girls, when the whole country is impovered. That is only sowing more inequality, and seems neo-colonial to the villagers. her intentions are very good, but she needs better advisers on how to help.
Since you seem to know it all, what have YOU done to help? Hmmm…that’s what I thought.
Working hard on helping Africa my way! I did not say that her intentions were not good. I just said she chose the wrong way. 15 million for 500 girls is very elitair.
Martha I totally agree with you. I am beginning to realize how stupid and ignorant some of Madonna’s fans are. They are so lame. They think whatever she does is great and obviously they don’t use their brains. They are so blinded on what’s going on around the world, and the only way they will see the world and react to others constructive criticism, is through Madonna’s eyes. As if Madonna gives a shit about her fans. All you morons, go educate yourselves and then come in here and call other morons. Please, we don’t need you to tell us what we already are.
Thanks MD!
Yup, Westerners, will never understand what drives Africa. Madonna, with all her money and ambition, is in for the lesson of her life.
Africa has its own rules.