Madonna kicks up a storm

David Banda's first year of life has been normal enough for Malawi.

His mother died within days of giving birth to him, his elder brothers succumbed to malaria and his father, unable to cope, put him in an orphanage.

His future looked set to be the same as more than a million other children in Malawian orphanages: poverty, malnutrition, HIV/Aids, chronic disease and early death - life expectancy in the stricken African nation is just 40.

Yesterday, though, the 13-month-old boy's life took an extraordinary turn; he was taken on a private jet to South Africa, accompanied by a bodyguard and a nanny, before heading for an opulent new life in London with the singer Madonna and her family.

But even as a Malawian court granted Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, an 18-month interim adoption order and the right to take David out of the country, the controversy over the boy and his newly rewritten future continued.

The issue has divided campaigners in Malawi, as well as polarising debate internationally.

For critics, Madonna is simply another example of the growing and distasteful trend of rich celebrities "shopping" for children to adopt from countries with which they have no ethnic ties, using their money and power to bend the rules without a thought for the children they do not choose.

The fact that she has pledged £1.6m ($4.5m) to help 900,000 Malawian orphans with food, education and shelter has only added to the belief that she has in effect bought herself a baby by flexing the muscle power of her $700m fortune.

For others, the singer is to be praised for helping at least one child out of poverty, in a country where a quarter of the population is infected with HIV and the majority of people live on less than a dollar a day.

And for her financial aid to the others left behind.

It is a modern morality tale that will be played out in the full glare of media headlines, probably for the rest of David's life - and with no guarantee of what the ending will be.

After a weekend of wrangling over passport details and threats by human rights groups to block the adoption, David was flown out of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, yesterday.

Even as the plane took off, Malawian government officials, child protection campaigners and relatives of the boy continued to make conflicting claims about the case.

Various lobby groups there have banded together under the umbrella organisation of the Human Rights Consultative Committee, claiming that the adoption is unlawful because Madonna has not lived in the country for 18 months, in accordance with national law.

Reports at the weekend said that an uncle of David was opposed to the process and it is unclear whether Madonna has yet been approved as an adoptive parent by the British authorities, as is required by law.

On Monday, the Human Rights Consultative Committee postponed its attempt to have the adoption blocked by the Malawian courts.

Justin Dzodzi, who chairs the committee, said he wanted to send investigators to the village to "get a feel of what the villagers and relatives feel about the adoption and whether anyone opposes it." But he insisted the case would go ahead, and that they would fight for David to be returned to his native country.

Emmie Chanika, director of the Civil Liberties Committee group in Malawi, said: "The rich shouldn't get preferential treatment.

"Do we have checks so people cannot grab our children? I am fine with the idea of adoption but I want people to go through the system."

A Malawian government official insisted that Madonna had "been pushing papers for some time" before news of the intended adoption leaked out last week and that the rules had not been relaxed for the singer.

The battle over David is far from clear-cut, however.

The boy's father, Yohame Banda, said he was pleased the celebrity couple wanted his son.

"They are a lovely couple," he said.

"She asked me many questions. She and her husband seem happy with David. Madonna promised me that as the child grows she will bring him back to visit."

For some dealing with poverty, the HIV/Aids epidemic and malnutrition in the country, Madonna's intervention is only welcome.

Mirriam Nyirongo, a retired nurse who runs an orphanage in the northern Malawian town of Mzuzu, said: "We must be frank. We can't afford to look after the thousands of babies that are being orphaned every day. If rich people like Madonna take just one child it will be a major boost for Malawi."

Adoption groups in Britain said that at least one good thing had already come out of the brouhaha - a surge in inquiries from people about becoming parents to the thousands of children in local authority care here.

The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) said traffic on its website had seen a huge increase since it emerged that Madonna had adopted David.

Just 3,000 of the 60,000 children in care were placed with adoptive parents last year, largely because of a chronic shortage of suitable carers, particularly those willing to take on older children rather than babies.

The average age at adoption of a British child is over four.

A further 4,000 children were left in care, up for adoption but with no potential parents.

While the need for more adopters is desperate, the process of being approved for a child and then being matched can take years.

Adoption agencies say that at least the publicity surrounding David's adoption has been welcome for the issue, if not for the child, his new mother and some campaigners in Malawi.

- INDEPENDENT