Madge’s adopted daughter Mercy’s granny says orphanage was to return the girl to family

LONDON - Madonna’s adopted daughter Mercy’s grandmother claims that the little girl was to be returned to her family from the orphanage she was living in.

Lucy Chekechiwa, the maternal grandmother of the Malawian child, claims that the family never agreed to put the four-year-old up for adoption on a permanent basis.

She insists that she had long fought to keep Mercy, whom the southern African country’s highest court ruled that Madonna could adopt earlier this month, and that she had only recently given up her long battle to keep her.The initial agreement was that Mercy was to be kept in the orphanage for six years. After six years Mercy was supposed to be brought back here and then I would have taken care of her,” the Telegraph quoted her as saying.

“At first I didn’t want her to go but as a family we had to sit down and reach an agreement and we agreed that Mercy should go.

“The men insisted that Mercy be adopted and I won’t resist anymore. I still love Mercy. She is my dearest,” she added.

Chekechiwa tells in the Channel 4 documentary ‘Madonna and Mercy: What Really Happened’, set for broadcast on Monday, that she had fought against the adoption for three years, but had finally agreed to let Mercy go.

She revealed that Madonna first saw Mercy at an orphanage during her first visit to Malawi in 2006 with her then husband Guy Ritchie, and decided that Mercy was “the one”.

However, Chekechiwa refused to let the little girl go at the time.

Madonna finally decided on returning home with David Banda.

Mercy’s mother Mwandida had fallen pregnant aged 14 to an older student at school, and died from complications of childbirth days after the girl was born.

Mercy’s father James Kambewa claims being told that his daughter had also died, and that he learnt the truth only after being tracked down by journalists in April.

He now wants his daughter back.

He told Channel 4: “I am not supporting the adoption because I am still alive. I don’t see any justification why the girl should be adopted. But on the other hand when I learnt that my daughter is still alive I was very happy and I think I still need to raise her. It’s true that a child needs both parents but that doesn’t stop me from taking care of Mercy. I know I’m capable. I can do that.”

The programme also investigates the links between the adoption and the Kabbalah-sponsored Raising Malawi charity, whose co-founder is Michael Berg, the co-director of the Kabbalah Centre. (ANI)