Madonna "saddened" by Malawi criticism of her charity work

US pop diva Madonna said Thursday that she was "saddened" Malawi had criticized her charity work and her personal conduct in the country, from which she has adopted two children.

Madonna said a statement issued Wednesday by President Joyce Banda that claimed Madonna had sought special treatment when visiting Malawi last week was "ridiculous."

Madonna flew to the southern African country with her children and visited schools that her charity Raising Malawi has been funding. The government later accused her of exaggerating her charity work.

"I'm saddened that Malawi's president has chosen to release lies about what we've accomplished," Madonna said in a statement.
Eunice Kazembe, Malawi's minister of education and civic education, had said earlier, "There is a misrepresentation of facts out there that Madonna has built 10 schools in Malawi. That is not true because what she is building are school blocks within existing government schools."

Madonna said she would "continue to follow through on my commitment to help educate the children of Malawi."

She said she was sad to hear Malawi's president had spread "untruths" about how she conducted herself on her trip, during which she was reportedly upset that she was not granted VIP treatment.

"Neither the president nor any official in her government denied Madonna any attention or courtesy during her recent visit to Malawi," The president's statement said. "... There is no defined attention and courtesy that must be followed in respect of her."