Malawi court defers ruling in second Madonna adoption bid

Mar 30, 2009, 16:14 GMT

Lilongwe, Malawi - US pop star Madonna's attempt to adopt a second child in Malawi is to be decided on Friday, when a court rules on her quest to adopt a four-year-old sister for her adoptive son, David Banda, the judge said Monday.

The 50-year-old singer was in Malawi High Court in the capital Lilongwe on Monday for a hearing on her application for an interim, 18-month adoption order for Chifundo (Mercy) James.

Judge Esimy Chombo reserved ruling in the case.

Madonna is said to have met the little girl two years ago in the same Tikondane orphanage south of the commercial hub Blantyre, where she and then husband Guy Ritchie collected David in 2006 when he was 13 months.

That adoption was shrouded in controversy when it emerged that David's father was still alive and that the government had skirted its own rules on adoptions by non-residents in granting the couple direct custody of the infant. The adoption was made official last year.

On Sunday, David was reunited briefly with his father in a meeting at the star's lodge.

Human rights activists in Malawi have accused Madonna of using her money to influence the adoption process and urged tighter adoption laws.

This time around, the circumstances are further complicated by the fact that Madonna is now a single parent.

'Madonna just got divorced and that is not very good for the children,' Mavuto Bamusi, national coordinator of the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), an umbrella body of NGOs that campaigned against David's adoption.

In an interview with a local newspaper earlier this month, Madonna had said she would only adopt again in Malawi if she had the support of the population and government.

The number of orphans in Malawi is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, in a population of 11 million. Many have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS and have themselves contracted the virus through mother-to-child transmission.

Half of all citizens of the landlocked country live below the poverty line, leading some people to feel children are better off with wealthy foreigners.

Ernest Mahwayo, president of Young Christian Workers, told the German Press Agency dpa he saw nothing wrong with Madonna adopting 'children who are sleeping on empty stomachs.'

'When she adopted David Banda people talked a lot but did not offer any alternatives. Today, we hear David is a big boy and coping very well overseas. We should be thanking Madonna for falling in love with Malawi,' he said.