David Banda's dad shocked by Madonna-Ritchie split

THE father of the Malawian toddler adopted by US singer Madonna and her British film director Guy Ritchie says he is shocked at news of their divorce but wants her to keep the child.

"I am shocked but not too sad. I only met Madonna and her husband once in court when we were signing the first documents for adoption in 2006," Yohane Banda said by telephone from his village of Mchinji, 110km from the capital Lilongwe.

"As I have always said, Madonna loves the child, and I want to encourage her to keep loving the boy despite the divorce," he said.

"I allowed my son to be adopted in order to escape poverty. If he was still here, he could have probably died."

The couple adopted David Banda when he was 13 months old, after the poor and illiterate Yohane Banda brought his son to an orphanage. The mother died shortly after giving birth.

He said he hoped the divorce will not disturb the three-year-old's upbringing.

"Madonna and her husband were a lovely couple when I met them. We only met once and I didn't have time to know them better," he said.

It is almost two years to the day since that drama on the tarmac of Malawi's Lilongwe airport, when Madonna's private jet was refused permission to take off with David Banda on board.

The singer was impatient to fly the boy back to Britain after spotting him in an orphanage and deciding that he was the one she wanted - the one child, of the million orphans in Malawi, she wanted to adopt.

The usually ruthlessly efficient Madonna had made one oversight: she had forgotten to apply for a passport for the 13-month-old.

She was accused of "fast-tracking" the adoption because under Malawian law prospective parents have to be resident in the country for 18 months.

Madonna may have embarked on a mission to save the country with her Raising Malawi project but she didn't fancy sticking around there for 18 months waiting for the go-ahead to take David back to London.

David arrived safely in Britain a few days later.

The infant born in a hut in the remote village of Lipunga to a father who earned a pittance growing onions and tomatoes now has his own room in a Marylebone townhouse, expensive toys and clothes and his food prepared by macrobiotic chefs.

And everywhere he goes, he is accompanied by a huge entourage.

This madness was supposed to be balanced by stable family life.

With the announcement that David's adoptive parents are to divorce, that is no longer the case.

One of the key factors in the marriage breakdown is said to have been Guy Ritchie's opposition to Madonna's desire to adopt another Malawian child.

Back in Malawi, news of the divorce has been met with dismay. The majority of Malawians are devout Christians who believe strongly in marriage and family.

Once the divorce has been finalised, it seems likely that Ritchie will remain in England and Madonna will spend more time in the US.

Whatever settlement is reached, it seems likely Madonna will be granted primary custody of David.

The immediate future, however will be taken up with visiting the various cities on the itinerary of his mother's Sticky&Sweet tour.

Her entourage is a part of David's life but he still appears bewildered by their presence.

However many child-sized BMWs, music systems and designer outfits his adoptive mother buys him, nothing seems to have been able to take away the haunted look in his eyes.