Official sacked from Madonna adoption case

Penstone Kilembe allegedly tried to get money from the singer

1 hour ago
A Malawian child welfare has been taken off the Madonna adoption case after it emerged he asked for money from the singer, it has been reported.

Penstone Kilembe, director of Malawi's Child Welfare Services, was overseeing the adoption by Madonna of David Banda, and was due to fly to London make an assessment of the case.

Kilembe allegedly asked her for money for the trip.

The Malawian government went to court last week to seek removal of Kilembe from the case, with Simon Chisale, the country's chief social welfare officer taking over the assessment.

Meanwhile, Kilembe returned from a conference in the US yesterday (September 3) and claimed he was not aware of the recent developments.

"I am not aware of these developments. I have just arrived from New York and nobody from my office has told me anything. I will be in the office tomorrow," he told the Associated Press.

Madonna adopted David Banda almost a year ago when he was 13 months old, and was accused of using her celebrity status to fast-track the adoption proces.

--By our New York staff.
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