Legal setback for Madonna?
2006-10-16 14:25
Blantyre - A coalition of Malawian rights groups on Monday said it had deferred plans legally to block an interim order won by US pop diva Madonna to adopt a local 13-month-old boy in order to beef up its case.
"Being a private matter, we are trying to establish a locus standi .. we need someone like a relative who is directly offended by the interim order," Maxwell Matewere, rights activist and director of Eye of the Child, told AFP.
The Human Rights Consultative Committee, an umbrella grouping of 67 local rights groups, had said it would go to court on Monday to challenge an interim court order allowing Madonna to adopt David Banda, a poor farmer's son.
Matewere said the group wanted to interview an unidentified uncle of David's who is "said to be opposed to the adoption plan".
Justin Dzodzi, who chairs the rights grouping, said it had sent investigators to the orphanage where Banda lives to "get a feel of what the villagers and relatives feel about the adoption and if anyone opposes it".
"We want to thoroughly prepare for this challenge and part of our legal action is dependent on getting some disgruntled people to swear affidavits," Dzodzi said.
Madonna was granted the interim order to adopt the toddler by the High Court in Lilongwe last Thursday after spending a week in the poverty-stricken southeast African country to assess Aids projects she had funded.
Under Malawian law, expatriates adopting a Malawian child usually have to live in the country for 18 months and are monitored by social workers before they get full adoption rights.
Matewere said the committee felt "offended" by the High Court's decision and wanted to know "if the interim order was made in good faith".
Malawi's parliament will debate new adoption rules next year to streamline adoption procedures for foreigners.
Madonna left Malawi on Friday without the toddler as officials were yet to sort out Banda's passport and visa issues.
The singer, who already has two children of her own, must return to this country for the adoption to be finally approved.
In an interview with Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper, the boy's father Yohane Banda said he had agreed to the adoption as it was "a very good opportunity for David to get an education and grow up healthy".