Emmanuel OchayiIn a bid to foster bilateral relationship with former colonies in Africa, Germany is officially seeking forgiveness from Tanzania for the injustice and crimes it committed during its Colonial rule.
This gesture of reconciliation comes as part of Germany’s effort to address its colonial past and to foster good diplomatic relationship with its former colonies in East Africa.
The plea for forgiveness was made during President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s three-day visit to Tanzania where he met with the descendants of Tanzania’s brutal war of rebellion called the Maji-Maji Aufstand where Tanzanians were fighting against Germany’s policy of making indigenous people of Tanganyika (Tanzania) grow cotton that is transported to Germany without pay to the farmers or citizens that grew the cotton. The war lasted from 1905 to 1907 and led to the death of about 300 thousand citizens and looting of cultural artifacts from the East African country.
Speaking at a museum in Songea, the city where the rebellion took place, President Frank-Walter said “I would like to ask for forgiveness for what Germans did to your ancestors here,” he said.
“What happened here is our shared history, the history of your ancestors and the history of our ancestors in Germany.”
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“I want to assure you that we Germans will search with you for answers to the unanswered questions that give you no peace.”
According to him, this is a step towards “communal healing” and promised to “take these stories with me to Germany, so that more people in my country will know about them”
In recent years, Germany has taken bold steps to address issues concerning it colonial past in East Africa where it carried out large-scale massacre in Tanzania and Namibia. In 2021, Germany accepted it wrongs in Namibia and promised to pay reconciliation fee €1.1 Billion which the German government said was aimed at finding a “joint path to genuine reconciliation in remembrance of the victims.”
President Frank-Walter visit to Tanzania coincided with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Nigeria and Ghana where he met with government officials to discuss bilateral cooperation.
In the same vein, King Charles also went to Kenya where he talked about the British Empire’s colonial wrongs in the country but did not issue an apology.
He said “There were abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence committed against Kenyans as they waged… a painful struggle for independence and sovereignty. And for that, there can be no excuse.” He offered no apology.
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