The uncle of the African ‘orphan’ Madonna attempted to adopt has slammed the child’s father for coming forward — insisting he has no right to claim Mercy James as his own.
The pop superstar’s bid to adopt the tot fell through last week when a Malawi court refused to grant her wishes.
A man claiming to be Mercy’s birth father subsequently went public — voicing his desire to support the child.
James Kambewa claims he didn’t even know his daughter was alive until he saw her in news coverage of the Madonna adoption saga.
The security guard tells People.com he thought the girl’s mother, 15-year-old Mwandida Maunde, had died in childbirth and assumed their baby was dead too.
He says, “Now that I know she is alive I am willing to support her.”
Upset about the death of his childhood sweetheart, Kambewa reveals he fled after the tragedy.
But Maunde’s family is unclear as to the father’s motives for returning to claim his child.
Little Mercy’s uncle, Peter Baneti, who signed adoption papers giving Madonna rights to become the little girl’s guardian, fumes, “Where was he all this time?
“He wasn’t there when his girlfriend was pregnant; he didn’t even attend her funeral when she died eight days after giving birth to Mercy. We don’t think he even knew she had a baby.”
Another uncle tells the Web site, “If he cared he should have attempted to find out the fate of his daughter. We can’t accept him to come into Mercy’s life simply because she is now famous. We are angry with this boy.”
According to family records, Maunde gave birth to Mercy in January 2006. She died in early February, and her daughter was placed at the Kondanani Children’s Village — because her extended family members were too poor to raise her.
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