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Madonna's Social Worker Swap
And here we thought Madonna liked to reinvent the rules. She's got nothing on Malawi.
Just a week after the country's government reversed a decision forbidding one of their court-appointed social workers from visiting Madonna and Guy Ritchie's London home—in the wake of reports of imprudence—to assess their fitness as parents, the government has reassigned the case to another of their workers.
Penstone Kilembe, the official originally set to make the first of several trips to visit the newly expanded family in Britain to determine whether the famous couple make suitable parents for David Banda, the 22-month-old boy they're seeking to officially adopt, has been officially removed from the case. A Malawi High Court judge has assigned welfare officer Simon Chisale to make the report in his place.
While no official word has been given as to what caused the abrupt changeup, Kilembe came under fire from his own government last month for his behavior in connection with the case.
The man made headlines earlier this summer when he sounded off in the world's media over Malawi's Minister of Women and Child Development, Kate Kainja, having barred him from making the necessary—and long-delayed—journey to check in on young David.
Kainja quickly shot back at claims she was intentionally holding up the adoption process and thus placing its progress at risk, saying that Kilembe had been banned from making the trip as he had "personalized the whole issue." The headline mudslinging came in the wake of increasing reports that Kilembe had accepted a plane ticket and money from Madonna to make the trip without permission from government officials.
While Chisale has confirmed that he is the new assessor of the Ritchie clan's suitability, Kilembe apparently has yet to get the memo.
"I am not aware of these developments," he said Monday upon returning to Malawi from a trip to the U.S to attend a child-development workshop. "I have just arrived from New York, and nobody has told me anything."
Madonna's camp, of course, has heard of the developments and issued their own statement denying culpability for any financial wrongdoing, claiming Madonna and Ritchie used neither their financial resources nor their celebrity to aid in the adoption process.
"There has been absolutely no interference with government officials or use of Madonna's celebrity to speed up this adoption as reported," spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg told the Associated Press. "The plans to finalize the adoption of Madonna and Guy Ritchie's son David are proceeding as outlined almost a year ago."
According to the plan, Chisale will need to visit the London brood at least one more time after his current trip. He arrived in the U.K. for the first meeting on Tuesday.
In October 2006, the duo was granted interim custody of David, then just 13 months old. A second check-in on their fitness as parents is expected to take place in December, when Chisale will once again observe the family's interactions. A final report is due to the Malawi High Court in February 2008, after which the court will issue a final decision on whether to approve the adoption.
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