In tribute to the late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, Pan-Africanist committed to the liberation of Africa from all forms of oppression, we reprint three of his columns on Darfur.

The first is Tajudeen’s cry for Africa to take itself seriously in supporting the African Union Mission in Sudan. Having applauded the readiness of the AU to rush in to Darfur, while the UN and others held back, he decried the way in which Africa failed to support this crucial and pioneering mission. He writes, “Why are we able, ready and willing to spend money on Presidential vanities and unjust wars but have no resources for peace and development? Why should anybody take us seriously if we do not take ourselves seriously?” The article is found on the Pambazuka site on this link.

The second column, also available on Pambazuka (on this link) ran under the headline “Khartoum is fooling the world again.” Without hesitation, Tajudeen berated the Sudan government for its failings, its readiness to talk while the killing went on. To the surprise of many, even while Tajudeen published such outspoken attacks on the record of the Sudan Government, he travelled readily to Khartoum and spoke in public there–never once biting his tongue. Even those who found his words most painful knew that Tajudeen had no ulterior agenda and no double standards.

The third is Tajudeen’s exhortation to the Darfurian armed movements to display the political maturity required of any self-respecting liberation movement. Written as the final round of the peace talks in Abuja got underway in December 2005 and based on Tajudeen’s own engagement with the rebel negotiators at the talks, it reflects his astonishment that anyone claiming the mantle of liberation should set as their goal the dispatch of foreign troops to “save” them. This column is reproduced on the Pambazuka website, on this link.

Scores of tributes to the most outstanding Pan-Africanist of his generation are flooding in to the Pambazuka and Justice Africa websites.