An investigation by AyiboPost enabled police to recover three children who had not attended school for seven years from the home of Zimbabwean national Vundla Sikhumbuzo, who is implicated in the Episcopal Church arms trafficking case
The Haitian National Police recovered the three children of the ex-wife of the alleged arms trafficker Vundla Sikhumbuzo on March 26, 2026.
The children of the former couple spent seven years in sequestration, with little contact with the outside world and no schooling, at Sikhumbuzo’s residence. He has been wanted by police for his alleged involvement in the large-scale arms trafficking scandal linked to the Episcopal Church of Haiti.
Two police sources familiar with the operation that led to the Zimbabwean’s arrest described to AyiboPost children with a “zombified” appearance who had “lost their sense of social connection” after being isolated from their mother for nearly a decade.
Wanted by the Haitian National Police since 2019, Sikhumbuzo is also accused of having disfigured his ex-wife, Chadian national Kassire Hawa Ohrgue, during an acid attack attempt in 2018.
Investigators say they used information published by AyiboPost to understand the case, track down the mother, and return the children to her.
The arms trafficking case became public following the interception by the Haitian National Police in July 2022 of about twenty firearms and war ammunition in containers belonging to the Episcopal Church, intended for Sikhumbuzo.
Monsignor Ogé Beauvoir, a former bishop of the Episcopal Church, told AyiboPost that Sikhumbuzo had contacted him to help clear the containers through customs, a request he says he refused.
This case, on which AyiboPost has conducted several investigations, has now been referred to the criminal court, involving several individuals close to the religious institution.
For now, Sikhumbuzo — a former official of the Episcopal Church of Haiti — faces multiple charges before the Haitian justice system, including murder, criminal conspiracy, illegal arms trafficking, and potentially the sequestration of minors.
The man, described as an “international mafia” figure by police sources, is also said to have been the subject of investigations by the FBI and “could be extradited at any moment,” these sources told AyiboPost.
“His wife has also filed a complaint against him in the United States,” added a source familiar with the case.
As part of this reporting, AyiboPost contacted the central directorate of the Haitian National Police through its spokesperson, Garry Desrosiers, who said he had no new information on the case.
Vundla Sikhumbuzo kept their three children by force. According to details provided by a source familiar with the case to AyiboPost, the children were living in conditions described as “abusive.”
They were locked inside Vundla Sikhumbuzo’s apartment in Montagne Noire, without even access to the house’s balcony, according to police sources.
“The children appear completely zombified. They didn’t even have the opportunity to see the sun,” said a source within the Haitian National Police specializing in child protection.
The source also noted an intense fear observed in the children when in contact with other people after the events.
“They have lost all sense of social connection. They are like animals,” the police source reported.
A source close to the case stated: “When you see the children, you notice that they lack something, that they are abnormal.”
Another source involved in the intelligence operation spoke of “children who grew up inside a house,” now “traumatized.”
The eldest is now 18 years old. “She did not want to see or speak to her mother. She also denies that her father threw acid on her,” the police source reported.
The third child, aged fourteen, shows visible signs of psychological disorders. “He appears to suffer from mental health issues and gives the impression of not knowing where he is. He seems detached from reality,” the police source said.
The second child, a fifteen-year-old girl, appears more alert.
It was thanks to her escape on March 23 that investigators were able to apprehend Sikhumbuzo.
She, who clearly does not have a good relationship with her father, “is not his friend.”
During their meeting after the arrest, while he was being taken into custody, the former fugitive shook hands with the other two children, but not with her, the police source observed.
The children have not attended school since 2019, AyiboPost learned.
Investigators found in the younger girl’s possession a notebook dated June 2019, indicating that she had been attending Morning Star Christian Academy in Delmas 31 at that time.
In total isolation, “the children never spoke to their mother and had no contact with any other family member except their father,” revealed a source close to the police unit responsible for child protection within the Haitian National Police.
Deprived of freedom and access to education, “this is like a form of torture. It is a violation of human rights,” she added.
According to police sources, the manhunt that led to his arrest began on March 23, 2025, when his youngest daughter fled the house intending to find her mother.
That day, a security guard at a hotel in Pétion-Ville, who encountered her in Morne Brun, handed her over to a police patrol, which then took her to the Pétion-Ville police station around 1 p.m.
“We contacted AyiboPost thanks to this teenager, after following an interview her mother gave to one of the outlet’s journalists,” the police source said, adding that authorities were trying to reach the children’s mother.
Placed under the protection of the focal point of the Brigade for the Protection of Minors in Pétion-Ville, the girl received follow-up support that made it possible to establish contact with her mother, Kassire Hawa Ohrgue, and then with the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police, which already had information on the case.
During this operation, which lasted four days, intelligence gathered by law enforcement made it possible to identify three areas frequented by the suspect: Montagne Noire, the Caribbean supermarket in Pétion-Ville, and Morne Brun.
This information also led to the circulation of wanted notices in those areas, particularly among motorcycle drivers. Investigators then learned that Vundla Sikhumbuzo sometimes traveled on foot and sometimes by motorcycle.
While distributing a wanted notice, informants encountered him face to face during the operation, the police source told AyiboPost.
Sikhumbuzo was accompanied by his eldest daughter, which allowed investigators, who recognized her, to identify and arrest him in the “Tèt Dlo” area of Pétion-Ville.
Subsequently, law enforcement brought the younger daughter to the house where Sikhumbuzo’s current partner and their fourth child, aged two, were staying, and asked her to call the youngest child by phone to facilitate his recovery.
Steps are underway to allow the children, who have been placed with a guardian, to join their mother, Kassire Hawa Ohrgue, in the United States, a police source told AyiboPost.
Contacted by AyiboPost, the mother said she did not wish to comment due to the sensitivity of the situation.
For the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR), the case is not following its normal course.
“I am not yet aware of it. The Haitian National Police cannot place a child with a guardian without the Social Welfare authority carrying out the necessary checks, unless it is a close family member such as an uncle, aunt, grandfather or grandmother,” said IBESR director Arielle Jeanty Villedrouin to AyiboPost.
Jean Feguens Regala contributed to this piece.
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