‘Madonna Betrayed Us Over Our Daughter: Orphan’s Family Attack

Madonna has been accused of ‘betraying’ the family of her adopted daughter Mercy – as they issued a desperate plea to be allowed to see her. The grandparents of Mercy James have accused the star of cutting them out of her life and failing to meet a promise to keep her close to her roots. They also attacked ‘white foreigners’ for taking children away from Africa.

Saxon Maunde, grandfather of Mercy James who was adopted by Madonna in 2009, told MailOnline: ‘Nobody has told me a thing about Mercy being in the country or about her welfare since she left us. ‘She has my blood flowing in her veins. It is preposterous that I am not made aware of anything regarding her development.’

The 69-year-old, who ekes out a living selling pots from a roadside stall, added that Madonna had, ‘broken my heart and hearts of my family members,’ saying that, ‘she has shown no humanity at all towards us.’

Saxon Maunde originally backed Madonna’s bid to adopt his granddaughter because he believed she would get a good education, and convinced his reluctant ex-wife to agree the adoption papers.

But today, as Madonna visits Malawi with Mercy James, he said he bitterly regrets his decision and accused Madonna of kidnapping a child of Africa.

He said: ‘White foreigners who decide to take our children away from Africa have no understanding of our culture.

‘They don’t realise that in our African families each one has a responsibility to the others. If a half-brother or half-sister does well, they share their fortunes with all of the others.

‘A child like my granddaughter Mercy, if she succeeds in her career, she is expected to share that success with all of us. That is how our extended family system works.’

Now I see that all she meant was that she would bring her here on holiday, stay in an expensive lodge for foreigners, and cut us – her real blood family – out of her life. That cannot be the right way to do things. No foreigner has the right to interfere in our culture like this.’

His thoughts were echoed by his ex-wife Lucy Chekechiwa, also 69, who fears she may never see her granddaughter again.

‘I am now old and SICKLY,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to die before seeing my daughter.’

Chekechiwa and Maunde’s teenage daughter died days after Mercy’s birth and so the family placed her at the orphanage because they could not take care of her.