James Kambewa, the man believed to be the biological father of Mercy, the four-year-old Malawian girl pop diva Madonna is trying to adopt, is unwilling to let go his daughter and says he wants to raise the child in his own culture.
"I want to take care of her, and I'm capable of taking care of my baby... Mercy, she is a Malawian, so I need her to grow as a Malawian... with our culture," said Kambewa, 24, reports people.com.
He has also written a letter to lawyers asking for a permanent injunction against Madonna adopting the toddler. Mercy has been living in an orphanage since her mother died.
Kambewa also said that he has never met his daughter after walking out on her mother when she was expecting her child and has only seen her "in newspapers and TV, not face to face."
Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg on the other hand said she doesn't know if Kambewa is the girl's father and that Mercy has been in an orphanage all her life.
The singer, 50, found Mercy, whose teenage mother had died, at Kondanani Children's Village in the town of Bvumbwe when she first visited Malawi in October 2006, the same time she found her adopted son David Banda at another orphanage.
{{/usCountry}}The singer, 50, found Mercy, whose teenage mother had died, at Kondanani Children's Village in the town of Bvumbwe when she first visited Malawi in October 2006, the same time she found her adopted son David Banda at another orphanage.
{{/usCountry}}The hearing in Madonna's appeal case will be led by the head of the judiciary in Malawi Monday. The southern African country's high court had previously rejected the singer's application to adopt Mercy Chifundo James. Madonna is not required to attend the hearing.