Absolute Madonna

Should US pop star Madonna be allowed to adopt Mercy James or not? Those supporting her say she will give the girl a good life while her detractors say she is behaving “like a bully”, using her fame and money to sidestep the law. George Gorijo Mhango reports from Malawi

The ruling by a Malawian court rejecting American pop star Madonna’s attempt to adopt a second orphan from the southern African country has brought into sharp focus the issue of inter-country adoption.

Judge Esmie Chombo, who presided over the case, said that the 50-year-old pop star could not be granted custody because she is a single parent and has not been resident in Malawi for at least a year, as required by the inter-country adoption laws.

“While there is a felt need to open a window for inter-country adoption, there is a need to exercise caution and clearly, some conflict between the rights of the child to adequate welfare and the need to protect the subject of the adoption,” she said.

“Put simply, courts do not make law by the process of precedents, and Madonna might not be the only international person interested in adopting the so-called poor children of Malawi,” said the judge. “Clearly inter-country adoption is supposed to be a last resort alternative.”

Judge Chombo also noted the potential ramifications a ruling in Madonna’s favour might have on adopted children’s human rights saying, “By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children, the courts, by their pronouncements, could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals.”

She noted that the four-year-old Mercy James had been placed in one of Malawi’s best orphanages and no longer suffered the severe poverty she endured after her mother died in childbirth.

However, Madonna’s lawyer, Alan Chinula, appealed against the ruling, and the case will now be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Explaining why he had appealed, Chinula said the court did not look at the way Madonna had raised David Banda, the orphan she adopted from the country, since she took him in her care in 2006, but had instead focused on inter-country adoption laws.

Opinion on the case is sharply divided, with human rights activists opposed to the adoption bid praising Chombo’s ruling.

Operating under the umbrella of the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), which brings together 75 local NGOs, they said the ruling was “good”, arguing that laws should be strictly adhered to.

The committee’s national coordinator, Mabvuto Bamusi, said all the human rights activists want is to ensure that existing laws are obeyed by the government.

He said it was the responsibility of parliament to ensure that laws that have outlived their usefulness are reviewed and amended to make them compatible with the changing times.
“Parliament only deliberates on petty issues at the expense of the plight of the country’s future leaders, in this case, Mercy James,” said Bamusi.

He explained that they were not against the adoption of Mercy per se, but simply wanted the country’s constitution to be adhered to by everyone, and not flouted to favour foreigners.

“We in human rights societies feel it is our obligation to make sure that legal and human rights are well understood, but it is parliament that enacts laws,” he stressed.
But some government officials and members of the public support Madonna, saying the US star should be allowed to adopt young Mercy.

The Minister for Child Welfare, Anna Kachiko, said the human rights activists should support the adoption because “they have done little in advocating for the rights of orphans compared with the rest of the society”.

“How can one deprive this orphan of her right just like that? It’s sad because she would have been given the much needed care.” Kachikho said, adding that the government would continue supporting the adoption of Mercy, just like it did in Banda’s case.

“These [adoption] laws are outdated and should be revised if well-wishers are to adopt orphans from this country,” she noted.

A local think tank, Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC has) also joined the debate, saying the human rights activists were being unhelpful by opposing those who have shown an interest in assisting the less privileged.

The committee’s executive director, Emmie Chanika, said the activists should have allowed little Mercy to be adopted, even as they sought a review of the inter-country adoption laws.

“Madonna has been good to us. She is supporting over 25,000 orphans in this country and she has proved that she can take care of David,” noted Chanika.

“Very few rich and famous people can take the time to fly all the way to Malawi to support our children. We support her adoption effort,” she added.

Chanika found support in Chris Kamlongera, a drama professor at the University of Malawi, who asked what right human rights activists had to challenge an offer for help to a child when the child’s closest relatives had no objection.
“If Madonna had ill-treated the first child she adopted, they would have had a case. But this is just empty talk that will fizzle out,” he said.

However, such arguments have not convinced HRCC national coordinator Bamusi, who felt that adoption is not the only way to go.

He argued that Madonna could continue with her noble idea of investing in the improvement of more children’s lives with her projects in Malawi. He accused Madonna of acting “like a bully” saying, “She has the money and the status to use her profile to manipulate, to fast-track the process.”
The HRCC also tried to block the adoption of baby Banda in 2006.

It is notable that Ken Williams of the Malawi and African Parent Children’s Network cited the residency law as the reason for the rejection of Madonna’s application in Mercy’s case.

This law was waived when Madonna was allowed to take baby Banda to London before his adoption was finalised last year. And when Undule Mwakasungula, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) took over from Justin Dzonzi, a critic of the Baby David adoption in 2006, he decided to let the case rest.

A local psychologist said that denying Mercy the opportunity to be adopted by Madonna could expose her to hardship and emotional trauma, which are otherwise avoidable.

As the debate continued, government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati warned human rights organisations to avoid letting themselves get used by their donors to deprive a child of a right to a better life.

“I know that some of these NGOs speak for their masters, but they need to consider the life of a human being first before introducing legal issues. After all, there is saying that law is a necessity,” Kaliati said.

Madonna’s publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said in a statement few days ago : “The pop star’s desire to adopt Mercy was totally heartfelt. She is not skirting any legal issues in her application to adopt this child.

She wants to provide a loving family environment and the best education and health care possible for a child who has been in an orphanage since birth.”

Meanwhile, a group of local traditional leaders has called on the government and other legal stakeholders to meet in order to discuss and revise the laws that infringe on one’s right to freedom of association, expression and other human rights.

Malawi’s Minister for Justice, Henry Phoya, in reported to have said recently that a constitutional review is underway to help review some of the country’s laws, such as the inter-country adoption laws.

“There is progress in that regard, and some of the current laws, which were reviewed in 1995 under the first multi-party government of former president Bakili Muluzi, will be deleted because they infringe on human rights,” Phoya reportedly said.

Mercy, the girl at the centre of the case, has been living in an orphanage at Kondanani in Thyolo, south of the commercial capital, Blantyre, since her 18-year-old mother died in childbirth.

There has been a marked increase in the number of orphans in Malawi as a result of HIV/Aids, whose prevalence rate stands at 12 per cent.

Quoting last year’s national housing and population census, women and child welfare authorities say that two million out of Malawi’s population of 13.2 million are orphans, most of them are under home care and at orphan care centres.

Malawi does not, as a rule, approve adoptions for single or divorced people, but an official at the country’s welfare department said each case is considered on merit.

Source: DailyMonitor.Com