Rev. Pratt Under Fire Accused of Embezzlement



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The Daily Observer (Banjul)

November 27, 2001
Posted to the web November 27, 2001

Malick Mboob.


A British philanthropist, Dee Symons, has accused Rev Titus K A Pratt,
chairman and superintendent of the Gambia Methodist Mission of embezzlement,
unfaithfulness and greed.

Mrs Symons said all the assistance and donations she had been sending from
England for the development of the Methodist Mission in The Gambia had
instead been personally used to "develop Rev Pratt". She said all the money,
medical items and clothing she had sent through Rev Pratt for use in
clinics, for the needy people and the Methodist Mission had never served the
purpose they were sent for.

She said she regretted working with the Methodist Mission for the past years
"whose chairman claimed to be a religious and pious person, but was instead
using church money for his personal benefit .

Mrs Symons explained that Rev Pratt wrote to her many times asking her to
send money for the Mission in order to complete projects and buy medical
items for Marakisa clinic. "When the money arrived, Rev Pratt sat on it but
told me that it had been put to good use." She revealed that 3 years back,
she collected some goods from donors in England, including computers,
medical items, blankets, clothing and toys for patients at Brikama and
Marakissa clinics as well as for the Mission and the needy. Mrs Symons
alleged that Rev Pratt diverted the container with the computers to Ghana
while the toys and clothing were sold at the Brikama market.

Mrs Symons said when she found some of the materials being sold at the
market, she asked Rev Pratt, who then claimed that the clinic staff decided
to sell them inorder to buy medicament. "My own dress which I bought for 60
pounds was seen at Brikama market on sale for 35 dalasis," she alleged.

She also claimed to have given 12,000 Pounds Sterling to Rev Pratt for the
restoration of the Church and Chapel in Janjanbureh but only found out that
the money was never used for the purpose because there was nothing new in
the church. "The church was disgraceful to accommodate even a rat, for the
huge amount of money spent," she reasoned.

When our reporter contacted Rev Pratt at his office in Banjul, he refuted
the allegations, noting that Dee Symons was a volunteer at Marakisa clinic
and had neither sent money or goods through him nor for the mission or the
clinic.

He acknowledged receiving money from Mrs Symons in England but said that was
less than D2000 and was meant to buy medicines for the Marakisa clinic.

Pratt, a Ghanaian national, explained that the mission even added some money
to that amount because it was not enough to buy the medicines .

He also refuted allegations of receiving any computers or medical items from
Symons which he reportedly diverted to his country, Ghana, for some other
purposes.

Pratt said another philanthropic group from England were the sponsors of the
Janjanbureh project, alleging that Mrs Symons had no part to play in that.

Rev Pratt also alleged that Mrs Symons was being instigated by some people
"fighting for his position".




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