Man Tells Judge: Planted Marijuana to Pay for my Children’s Education

‘Lost everything in Winston, family living in tent still’

Afather of four told the High Court in Suva yesterday that he planted marijuana to pay for the education of his children.

Sakaraia Dukubure, 45, had pleaded guilty to unlawful cultivation of illicit drugs.

In his mitigation, Dukubere told the court he only cultivated drugs to cater for his children’s education.

Dukubure said that he was a yaqona and banana farmer until Cyclone Winston hit and destroyed his farm and house.

He said: “I lost everything and currently my family is living in a tent.

“From February till December last year there was no assistance given to me by the Government except for a tent, so it came to my mind to plant marijuana as I heard from a lot of people that there is a lot of money in selling it.

“I did this because of the hardships I went through and for the welfare of my family as I wanted my children to prosper and have a great future.”

Dukubure explained to the court that he had four children who were all still students and he wanted all of them to finish tertiary level education in order to have a good future.

He sought forgiveness from the court and asked the court to consider his children’s education and future when sentencing him. Dukubure had admitted cultivating 74 marijuana plants on January 12, at Tailevu.