Madonna's Mercy father found

Apr 5, 2009, 11:00 GMT

Madge is told no. The singer will be devastated to learn a man claiming to be the three-year-old Malawian child\'s father wants her to live with him after believing she was dead. EPA/CAROLINE BLUMBERG

Madonna faces heartbreak as Mercy's father is found.

The singer will be devastated to learn a man claiming to be the three-year-old Malawian child's father wants her to live with him after believing she was dead.

James Kambewa, 24, is determined to prove he is Mercy's biological father by taking a and is desperate to meet his daughter for the first time.

He said: "She is my daughter and I want her to live with me.

"Discovering my daughter is alive is a miracle. Now I call on my countrymen to help me have my child. I will take a DNA test and appear in court to prove Mercy is my child. I am willing to do whatever it takes."

This news comes days after Madonna's bid to adopt the tot was rejected by Judge Esme Chombo in Lilongwe last week, because the 50-year-old star has not lived in Malawi for 18 months, as is required by law.

She is expected to appeal the decision at Malawi's Supreme Court.

But security-guard James is desperate to prove Mercy - real name Chifundo James - is his child and will tell Madonna he wants to raise her himself.

He explained: "I don't want her to live with Madonna, I want her to be with me. Until now everyone thought Mercy had no father but she has, and I will do anything to prove to the courts that I am her dad and that she should remain with me.

"I bear no grudge against Madonna. But I am Mercy's father and I want her to stay with me. God will take care of us. I will tell her that I have heard about her good work but Mercy has a father now. I will say she is welcome to come and see Mercy whenever she likes. But I will make it plain that my daughter will be staying in Malawi with me."

Authorities had believed the child was an orphan after her mother Mwandida died during childbirth and her father had not been found.

But Mercy's grandmother Che Maunde passed on James' name and he has been found living in a remote village 100miles away from the child.

He told British newspaper The Sunday Mirror: "All of a sudden I realised the daughter I believed was dead was alive and that she might be taken away from me forever. But now I feel like I have been given a second chance and I will not let Mercy down again. I can't afford to abandon her twice."