Malawi: Madonna bribed official to buy African child

Following the dubious adoption of one-year-old Malawian baby, David Banda in 2006, pop singer Madonna has been embroiled in yet further conflict about the circumstances surrounding the deal. It has emerged that Madonna had been paying tuition fees for 40-year-old Willard Manjalo, a Malawian government official in the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare, to enable him to study for a social work degree at Swansea University in Wales.

Manjolo stated, "It is unfortunate if people use their wealth to manipulate events, but I don't think it happened in this case. Her application was considered on merit. I have been trying to do this course since 1984 but funding was a problem. It was only last August that I was told the money had finally been sourced. This course will help my department to develop a policy to encourage Malawians to adopt Malawians."

However Human Rights lawyer, Justin Dzodzi who is challenging the legality of baby David’s adoption said: "The entire circumstances surrounding the case need to be re-examined and this latest disclosure is something we would wish to bring before the courts." Madonna has declined to comment on the matter. The case still continues to court controversy and many have questioned why Madonna did not donate money towards supporting the family, in particular David’s father who would visit his son whilst he was in the Malawian orphanage. Instead, she chose to take a child away from his family, country and culture.