The Malawi Supreme Court will next month hear an appeal by United States pop diva Madonna over the star’s failed bid to adopt a second child, a court official said on Monday.
High court registrar Joseph Chigona said three judges in Blantyre will hear the appeal filed earlier this month after a court turned down Madonna’s request to adopt a three-year-old girl.
”The hearing is set for May 4,” he said.
Madonna’s Malawian lawyer Alan Chinula said he had filed several grounds for appeal, including that Madonna, who already adopted a Malawian toddler David Banda three years ago, would have given Chifundo Mercy James a ”good life”.
Lilongwe high court Judge Esmie Chombo threw out the application, saying the courts could facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals.
In a lengthy ruling, the judge sided with critics who have said exceptions should not be made for the pop superstar, who has set up a major development project for this impoverished, Aids-stricken Southern African country.
Foreigners seeking to adopt in Malawi must be resident in the nation for at least 18 months — a requirement the judge said was a ”bedrock” of adoption petitions.
Noting that Madonna had last visited Malawi in 2008, the judge said the pop star ”jetted into the country during the weekend just days prior to the hearing of this application.”
”In my opinion, this would completely remove [Madonna] from the definition of ‘resident’,” the judge said.
This requirement was waived by another judge when Madonna (50) adopted David leading to accusations that she had used her fame and wealth to fast-track the process.
Chombo said other foreigners have adopted in Malawi, but Madonna’s was the only case in which residency was waived, and she indicated concern that doing so again could set a precedent that might jeopardise children.
”It is necessary that we look beyond the petitioner … and consider the consequences of opening the doors too wide,” the judge said. ”By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children, the courts … could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals.”
The failed bid was a rare setback for the material girl who has projected an image of being able to attain whatever she sets her sights on, be it personal or professional. — Sapa-AFP