German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier apologized for the brutality of Germany's colonial occupation in the early 20th century, his statement on the website said.
"I bow before the victims of German colonial rule. And, as Germany’s Federal President, I want to ask for forgiveness for what Germans did to your forefathers," Steinmeier said during his visit to Tanzania.
Steinmeier asked for forgiveness while speaking to the descendants of Chief Songea Mbano in Songea (a district in southern Tanzania), who was hanged by the Germans along with 66 other indigenous leaders of the Wangoni tribe after he refused to betray his people during the Maji-Maji rebellion.
The president described Songea Mbano as a leader of the people in the fight "against the German colonial masters who ruled over East Africa with brutal severity."
Addressing the Mbano family, the president added that in Germany, even those citizens who are more aware of their country's colonial history "must still be appalled by the extent of the brutality dispensed by the German colonial forces."
"I am ashamed about what German colonial soldiers did to your forefather, his fellow warriors and many others in what is now Tanzania," Steinmeier remarked. Despite this dark history, you invited me, the German Federal President, to your town today, to your family, to have the opportunity to tell me about it directly face to face. That is a grand gesture."
The president added that Germany is ready to work with Tanzania towards a "communal processing" of the past.
The colonial rulers of what was then German East Africa crushed the Maji-Maji rebellion against their rule with brutality between 1905 and 1907. Historians estimate that as many as 300,000 people died in the rebellion. Most died as a result of the systematic destruction of villages by German colonial troops.
Tanzania is not the only victim of German colonial oppression: in 2021, Germany officially recognized the genocide in Namibia and promised one billion euros ($1.06 billion) in financial aid to the descendants of the victims.
Steinmeier arrived in Tanzania on an official three-day trip on Monday to strengthen relations between the two nations. After Tanzania, the German president will travel to Zambia. Along with Steinmeier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is touring Africa this week, including visits to Nigeria and Ghana.