YOU'LL NEVER TAKE MY GIRL, MADONNA

EXCLUSIVE HUGE BLOW TO MADGE'S NEW AFRICAN BABY DREAM Mercy's uncle insists she's staying Tot 'does not belong with a star' Wrangle on David is more agony
Pop queen Madonna is devastated after the uncle of the second baby she is desperate to adopt vowed not to let the tot go.

The superstar longs to make little Mercy James a sister to David Banda, the boy she and hubby Guy Ritchie plucked from poverty-stricken Malawi last year.

But in a devastating blow to Madonna's dream, Mercy's defiant uncle John Ngalande insisted that the 20-month-old girl will live with him.

Speaking from Malawi, John told The People: "I would rather we be poor and struggling with Mercy, than for her to go and live with a big white star far away."

Mercy was put in an orphanage when her 18-year-old mother Mwandida Maunde died. Her father was a schoolboy and has played little part in her life.

John, 36, revealed that he always expected the tot would eventually live with him and is outraged at the thought of her being taken away by 49-year-old Madonna.

John said: "We were told when Mercy went into the orphanage that we would be in constant contact with her and that she would come back to us after six years. I would like to stick to that.

"Whether it be Madonna or any other white person, I'm against our child being taken away."

It is another serious setback for the American singer, who has lawyers working for her in Malawi. She hoped to collect Mercy - who she dubbed her "smiling angel" - from her orphanage next April.

But Madonna still faces problems over her adoption of David, two.

Her London home was inspected by Malawi's chief social welfare officer Simon Chisale last month but The People has learned that the process is far from complete.

Madonna and Brit film maker Guy, 39, face two further inspections from Malawi officials, who will come to Britain in November and December.

The case will go before a Malawi court next April before the adoption can be finalised.

A friend of the star revealed: "It is a very stressful time for Madonna and Guy. "They really wanted to adopt Mercy as they fell in love with her on first meeting. They thought she would be a great sister for David.

"The couple had hoped that by now everything about David would have been finalised.

"As far as they are concerned they are offering two parent-less children the chance of a happy, loving home and a better future.

Yet they are facing problems at every turn."

A Malawi source said: "There is a sense of resentment in this country over rich western couples coming over and whisking away children.

"While it is clear that the children are being offered better opportunities, there is a still unrest among the locals. There is a general movement against it."

Madonna already has a 10-year-old daughter Lourdes from a previous relationship, and son Rocco, seven, by Guy.