Peasant farmer Yohane Banda wed his second wife on a green sofa in a dusty school playing field, with a wedding feast of tripe and boiled cabbage. More than 600 people gathered for the ceremony, drawn by Yohane's celebrity as the father of 14-month-old baby David. The groom wore a polyester double-breasted blue suit, borrowed from his brother-in-law, with his own yellow shirt, red tie and black tennis shoes.
Earlier the couple, their heads hidden under a piece of cloth, had been driven to the door of Mr Banda's tiny two-room mud hut from a neighbouring village in a car adorned with red flowers - accompanied by a huge crowd of well-wishers singing, dancing in their honour. During the celebrations, the couple shared in a feast of tripe and tomatoes, cornmeal and boiled cabbage, washed down with 'thobwa' - a sweet beer made from germinated maize - as guests were entertained by Ngoni dancers in animal skins, reports the Daily Mail. Mr Banda met his 22-year-old bride six months ago, as he cycled through her village on the way to the Home of Hope orphanage, where two-week-old David was left after his 25-year-old mother, Malita, died from childbirth complications.
The chief of Lipunga village, Henderson Geza, introduced the groom as the man who 'has shaken the whole world' while Banda said he did not regret that David would not be a part of his new family. "I still stand firm for the adoption. I've made up my mind - David is for Madonna," he added.
But he said he hoped Madonna and David would have a chance to meet his new wife one day.
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