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David's Daddy After Madonna's Digits

Wed., Jan. 3, 2007 9:25 AM PST by Gina Serpe

Madonna's phone number is apparently so unlisted that not even the father of her child has it.

Yohane Banda, the biological father of David Banda, the Malawi tot Madonna and hubby Guy Ritchie are in the processing of adopting, has spoken out for the first time since the Material Mama's adoption hysteria ruled the world, telling a local paper he wants to know how his son is faring but has no way of contacting the superstar couple.

Join the club.

"I don't have her phone numbers and mailing addresses," Banda told Malawi's Daily Times. "I want to find out how my son is, but I don't know how I can do it. If there are people who can help me get these details, please come forward. I would appreciate [it] very much."

The 32-year-old father's plea came after the editor of the paper handed over a check for roughly $788, sent to the newspaper by a well-meaning but nonetheless interfering stranger.

Christine Webster, a nanny living in Scotland, sent the sum along with a note reading, "I do not have a lot of money but would you please assist in getting this money to Mr. Banda to help him keep in contact with his son."

Webster reportedly went on to claim in her letter that she believes 16-month-old David, whom the Ritchies picked up at an orphanage in September, would have been better off remaining in Malawi, even in a Malawian orphanage, than growing up on foreign soil.

As for Banda, an illiterate who initially thought the check to be nothing more than a worthless Christmas card, he told the Daily Times that while he would like to speak with Madonna about the current welfare of his son, he has no desire to try to get the boy back into the country. He also said that he does not want the coalition of human rights groups currently involved in the adoption proceedings interfering or intervening on his behalf to try and get a hold of the Ritchie clan, for fear of starting up yet another global scandal.

"All I want is to find out how he is faring and not that he should come back," he told the newspaper.

Banda said he has not spoken to Madonna or her director husband since David decamped Malawi for London in the fall and said he only met the famous family once, when he signed the paperwork allowing the adoption to proceed at Lilongwe Magistrate Court in September.

Regarding the adoption, Malawi's High Court ruled in November that the two human rights groups opposing the legality of the child rearing, the Malawi Human Rights Commission and the Human Rights Consultative Committee, would join the proceedings as "friends of the court."

The groups, who challenged the adoption on the basis that proper guidelines were not followed, will be allowed to help the court assess the fitness of the Ritchies' ability as parents. They will have no say in deciding whether laws were bent to hasten the adoption.

Madonna was granted temporary custody of David in September. The permission will be reassessed and either taken away or, more likely, granted in full during a review in 18 to 24 months.