James Kambewa, the presumed father of four year-old Mercy James, has gone public in his fight to keep Madonna from adopting his daughter. Last week, Kambewa told The Daily Mail that he would fight for custody of his daughter and called Madonna “scandalous” for dating a boy young enough to be her son.

Kambewa has an interview with CBS that with air on The Early Show this morning. Advance details reveal that he’s asserting his right to raise Mercy and wants to ensure that she does not leave the country with Madonna. Mercy’s mother, Mwandida, was just 15 when she died a few days after childbirth. James, then 21, was forced to leave the village due to the scandal over his young girlfriend’s pregnancy. He was barred from visiting his daughter by Mwandida’s family and has never met her. Now that he’s able to make his voice heard he’s telling the media that he hopes to care for Mercy. Mercy’s grandmother is also against the adoption and said that she hoped her granddaughter would return to her in a few years. She eventually agreed to the adoption after pressure from authorities.

Madonna’s bid to adopt Mercy was first denied on March 3. The judge was concerned that allowing Madonna to flout the country’s strict adoption laws would make Malawian orphans vulnerable to child trafficking. An appeal will be heard in the case today, but given the fact that Mercy’s dad has been so vocal in his opposition to the adoption I doubt that it will be successful:

A Malawian man claiming to be the biological father of a four-year-old girl Madonna hopes to adopt says he’s opposed to it.

The pop superstar’s appeal of a judge’s decision rejecting her attempt to adopt Chifundo “Mercy” James is slated to be heard Monday, reportedly by Lovemore Munlo, the Chief Justice of the poor southern African nation.

In an Early Show world exclusive, James Kambewa tells correspondent Priya David, “I want to take care of her and I’m capable to take care of my baby. … Mercy, she is a Malawian — so (I) need her to grow as a Malawian, as well with our culture.”

Kambewa, who wears a necklace he made bearing his daughter’s name, has never held or even met her, and says he’s only seen her “in newspapers and TV, not face to face.”

The interview will be featured in an Early Show three-part series about Madonna’s adoption starting Monday.

But Madonna spokesperson Liz Rosenberg issued a statement saying, “There is no evidence whatsoever that this man is the father of Mercy who has been in an orphanage since birth. Her mother died while giving birth to her. This is a story created by the media that has no influence on the ultimate ruling regarding Madonna’s appeal for custody. No family member has ever come forward to claim this child. And now some man appears out of a clear blue sky claiming to be the father.”

Lucy Chekechiwa, Mercy’s maternal grandmother, says she remains conflicted about the matter, telling David the orphanage has been determined. “I did not want my granddaughter to be adopted,” she says, “but because they have been persistent enough, I have been forced to let my granddaughter go.”

Madonna already adopted a son, David, from Malawi.

That nation requires prospective parents to live there 18 to 24 months while child welfare authorities assess their suitability. That rule wasn’t applied when Madonna was allowed to take David to London in 2006.

The judge in a lower court said Madonna’s previous adoption was the only case in which the residency requirement had been waived, and said she was concerned that doing so again could set a precedent that could jeopardize children.

[From CBSNews]

We’ll have to see what happens in this case and if Madonna’s adoption will be approved despite the fact that she didn’t meet adoption residency requirements, is single, and faces opposition from the girl’s living family including her father. How can Madonna’s rep say with certainty that this guy isn’t Mercy’s dad if they don’t have any proof either way? It’s not like they’re going to try to get a DNA test done.