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Tuesday, 21 October 2008

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David Banda's dad: I shouldn't have let Madonna take my son

Farmer thinks toddler would be better off with him in Malawi

Madonna adopted David Banda from an orphanage in Malawi

David Banda’s dad has expressed his regret at letting Madonna adopt his son.

Yohane Banda, who gave up the 3-year-old after his first wife died, is concerned about the effect Madge's divorce from Guy Ritchie, 40, will have on the youngster.

'I am still a poor farmer with nothing to offer, but maybe he would be better off back with us,’ he says.

'This is a new and terrible thing to happen to him. I am too upset to think clearly. When I think of David in danger of living outside a family life I find it unbearable.’

Yohane, 34, who now has a new family, claims he didn't really get to know the Ritchies and that Madonna has not maintained contact with him since the adoption.  

‘They just seemed a loving couple,’ he tells the Mail On Sunday, 'committed to each other, committed to marriage and committed to my son.

'They promised to take good care of him and always remember he was from Malawi. That's why I let them take him. Now I feel let down and disappointed, really shocked.

'I have never heard from her since the day I agreed to let her adopt David. She has sent no photographs or news.'

Malawi's Chief Social Welfare Officer Simon Chisale, who approved David's adoption because Madonna was 'a perfect mum', says he didnt forsee the break-up of her relationship.

‘No one can really know what goes on between two people even when they seem close,' he says. 'No one expected this to happen.'

SEE GALLERY Madonna and Guy Ritchie – a love story gone wrong>>