The rector’s actions plunge the institution into a crisis amid accusations of nepotism and corruption allegations
When Wilfrid Azarre became rector of the Public University of the Bas-Artibonite in Saint-Marc (UPBAS) in October 2021, he was tasked with redressing the State institution after the dismissal of the former rector, widely criticized for his absenteeism.
But in the same year, the new rector created an operations director position for his son, Adzenwiller Azarre, with “no college degree” on his academic record, according to former human resources manager Oginer Emilzo, who spoke to AyiboPost. The institution’s former administrator, Jean Eros Bayard Vincent, mentioned a certificate for law studies. It is not clear whether the director of operations completed these studies.
Prior to his current position, Adzenwiller Azarre was in charge of the institution’s IT department. Beside his salary, he receives frequent per diems, including four checks obtained by AyiboPost for a total of 988,000 gourdes.
Copy of Adzenwiller Azarre’s per diem checks in 2023 and 2024.
The new rector created an operations director position for his son, Adzenwiller Azarre, with “no college degree” on his academic record
Beside nepotism, about a dozen so-called phantom jobs as well as instances of the squandering of public funds have been identified within this Regional Public University (UPR), according to three former and current executives interviewed by AyiboPost.
“Whether it’s legal or illegal, we have to do what Rector Wilfrid Azarre wants,” says Jean Eros Bayard Vincent, former Administrative and Financial Director of this UPR. He claims to have been threatened with dismissal by the rector after refusing to comply with his demands.
Whether it’s legal or illegal, we have to do what rector Wilfrid Azarre wants
– says Jean Eros Bayard Vincent
UPBAS is part of a recurring pattern. The UPRs – around 10 in the country – should contribute to the decentralization of public education, but have been regularly marred by corruption scandals since their introduction in 2006.
These institutions, which fall under the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training, also face funding problems, the mass departure of teachers abroad, and the inability of others to come from the capital.
Rector Azarre did not respond to a request for comment sent via his email on January 30, 2025. He then asked to meet the AyiboPost team in Saint-Marc, travel to which was impossible due to the climate of insecurity.
Despite an apparent lack of qualifications, his son, Adzenwiller Azarre, participates in the development of contracts and receives per diems for trips normally reserved for administrative and human resources managers, according to former UPBAS administrator, Jean Eros Bayard Vincent.
The university’s annual operating budget amounts to 10 million gourdes. A large part of this sum is used to disburse per diems for travel. The rector receives a per diem of 14,000 gourdes per day. His son receives 13,000 gourdes per day.
At UPBAS, trips relating to simple contract monitoring can last up to three weeks, which suggests abuse of the system. “Even when the rector is not traveling, he requests per diems for himself and his son,” reveals Jean Eros Bayard Vincent, for whom “the rector attributes too much power to his son. »
AyiboPost contacted Adzenwiller Azarre during this investigation. He did not comment, citing professional confidentiality.
Even when the rector is not traveling, he requests per diems for himself and his son
– reveals Jean Eros Bayard Vincent
Vincent admits to having hired fictitious employees from lists provided by the rector. “These people who are based in Port-au-Prince never come to work at the university,” explains the former administrative manager.
They receive a monthly salary and the rector collects their paychecks, Vincent explains.
The practice is “a scheme for leaders to divert funds allocated to the operation of the institution,” Marc Richard Lafalaise, former Coordinator of the Faculty of Legal Sciences, familiar with these practices, tells AyiboPost.
Fictitious employment – the fact of a person receiving remuneration for work for which the material tasks accomplished cannot be justified – does not constitute an offense formally recognized in Haitian laws.
However, “other offenses such as extortion, bribery, or embezzlement may be taken into account in the event of the prosecution of a guilty person,” analyzes Philippe Junior Volmar, a specialist in labor law.
A list of around 10 fictitious employees consulted by AyiboPost contains the name of the wife of the Coordinator of the Faculty of Education Sciences, employed as a secretary at the rectorate (the rectorate does not have a formal office), and a woman very close to the rector’s son.
Another close friend of Adzenwiller Azarre, named Frantzy Fils-Aimé, is one of the so-called ghost employees.
Fictitious employment – the fact of a person receiving remuneration for work for which the material tasks accomplished cannot be justified – does not constitute an offense formally recognized in Haitian laws.
In 2023, Jean Ronald Armand, former Administrative Secretary of the Faculty of Agronomy, claims to have been instructed by the rector’s son to « recover a check given to a security agent from the National Credit Bank (BNC). »
The former secretary declares having received an envelope containing cash, accompanied by a pay stub in the name of Frantzy Fils-Aimé, for a gross amount of 120,000 gourdes.
Suspecting a fraudulent transaction, Jean Ronald Armand kept the stub as proof, which was later used in filing a complaint at the Saint-Marc Court of First Instance, on October 18, 2024.
To date, it is still unclear the function for which the so-called Fils-Aimé would have received this salary, according to former Secretary Jean Ronald Armand.
Azarre serves as the fourth rector of UPBAS since the creation of the institution in 2016.
A council composed of the deans of the five faculties – Legal Sciences, Agronomy, Educational Sciences, Engineering, Administration – as well as the Administrative and Financial Director, the Director of Human Resources, the Secretary General and the Director of Operations, manages the establishment.
The council is typically responsible for any major decisions at the university, but it is the rectorate that decides everything, according to Vincent.
Read also: Drastic drop in enrollment in universities in Haiti
For example, the decision to reduce the salaries of 9 of the institution’s employees, including that of the former Director of Human Resources, Oginer Emilzo, by 60%, was not discussed within the structure. Several employees accuse Emilzo of cashing their checks without authorization.
The university also has a mountain of debt, amounting to millions of gourdes.
UPBAS owes nearly five million to Charlienor Thompson, an influential entrepreneur of Saint-Marc and former Civil Registrar, for the accommodations and meals of around 10 professors between 2020 and 2021.
Most of these debts arouse questions over favoritism and merit.
For example, UPBAS owes 2,144,565 gourdes to 3 Mar Dépôt de Saint-Marc for April to January 2023. Part of this sum concerns the acquisition of teaching materials, office materials, and sanitation products, as well as loans made within the company.
According to Martine Jacques, owner of 3 Mar Dépôt, the agreement to supply these materials to UPBAS was reached because she was employed at the university. Jacques held a position as the cultural manager, and then as a teacher until the beginning of last year.
She claims she terminated her contract in January 2024, noting that one of the courses she taught was assigned to a brother of the dean of the Faculty of Legal Sciences.
The company Adelaïde Bar Resto provided catering and accommodation services, on credit, to around 20 UPBAS professors, from July 22 to December 1, 2022. Adelaïde claims a total debt of 2,052,950 gourdes.
According to Daniel Daméus, owner of the company, UPBAS paid 850,000 gourdes in 2023, but still owes him the rest of the total amount.
In March 2024, university officials established debt repayment terms at a meeting with Adelaïde‘s manager.
“Jean Eros Bayard Vincent told me he would send me a check for the Adelaïde. But I had to return 15% of the amount that I would receive to them through a bank account,” Daméus reveals to AyiboPost.
The following day, the entrepreneur checked the account number sent by Vincent. He realized that it belonged to Adzenwiller Azarre, the rector’s son.
Daniel says he refused to transfer the 15%, believing it was a form of corruption.
This story has “some truth to it; the rector wanted me to follow up,” admitted Vincent, who nevertheless denies having been directly involved.
The payment of illicit commissions is punishable by the law on the prevention and repression of corruption of March 12, 2014. The civil servant concerned faces a prison sentence and a fine equivalent to three times the amount received.
On March 21, 2025, the “Union of Employees Victims of the UPBAS” organized a press conference to denounce rector Wilfrid Azarre and his son Adzenwiller Azarre, accused of having withheld their checks.
Union of employees victims of UPBAS (Syndicat des employés victimes de l’UPBAS) in a press conference to denounce rector Wilfrid Azarre and his son Adzenwiller Azarre, accused of having withheld their checks, March 21, 2025. Photo: Unknown
For now, a complaint has been filed by UPBAS students with the public prosecutor’s office of the Saint-Marc Court of First Instance for the mismanagement of funds allocated to the university, on October 18, 2024.
The crisis situation at the university is not universally accepted. “The university operates 24 hours a day. Only former employees are attempting to sow panic,” says Frisnel Loziste, the current coordinator of the Faculty of Educational Sciences, contacted by AyiboPost. According to him, the real problem at UPBAS concerns the layout of the space and the lack of chairs to accommodate the new cohort of students.
By Rolph Louis-Jeune & Jérôme Wendy Norestyl
Cover : Union of employees victims of UPBAS in a press conference to denounce rector Wilfrid Azarre and his son Adzenwiller Azarre, accused of having withheld their checks, March 21, 2025.
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