High Court Puts Off Madonna Appeal

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 4, 2009— -- The Malawi Supreme Court has adjourned indefinitely the case to decide whether super-star pop singer Madonna will be allowed to adopt a 3-year-old girl named Chifundo "Mercy" James.

Madonna's first attempt to adopt Mercy was rejected last month after a judge said she failed to meet the southern African nation's residency requirements for international adoption. All foreigners are required to reside in Malawi for 18 to 24 months with the child prior to being granted an adoption, something the entertainer did not do.

"There is a gripping temptation to throw caution to the wind and grant an adoption in the hope that there will be a difference in the life of even just one child," Justice E.J. Chombo wrote in the lower court ruling. "But removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children ... could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals."

Meanwhile, a man claiming to be the girl's father has since surfaced. James Kambewa, a 24-year-old security guard who reportedly earns about $80 a month, told the Associated Press that he wants custody of her, although he has never seen the child.

"I may be poor but I think I have what it takes to raise a daughter," he said. "I will fight the adoption."

After the girl's mother died during childbirth, her surviving family placed the child in an orphanage weeks after she was born, according to court documents. Mercy's family has called Kambewa an opportunist and denies knowing him. They are on record as supporting the adoption, as is the Malawian government.

But Mavuto Bamusi, national coordinator for the Human Rights Consultative Committee, a network of Malawian civil society organizations opposed to the adoption, said that his organization still believes the lower court decision was the correct one and should be upheld, although Kambewa's claims have yet to be proven.

"We are not against Madonna and neither are we against efforts to lift Mercy James out of poverty," Bamusi told ABC News. "What we are concerned about is the precedence that may be set. If we have an environment where social workers don't have adequate time to scrutinize families, there will be chaos."