Germany apologizes for colonial past

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has issued an official apology and expressed his shame over the crimes committed during German colonial rule in Tanzania.

Tanzania was part of German East Africa, the scene of one of the bloodiest rebellions in colonial history between 1905 and 1907, where between 200,000 and 300,000 members of the indigenous population are estimated to have been brutally killed during the so-called Maji-maji Rebellion.

The apology was made during a visit to the Maji-maji museum in Songea in southern Tanzania, during the last day of the German president’s three-day visit to the country.

Steinmeier’s trip coincided with Britain’s King Charles’ four-day state visit to Kenya. The country expected an apology for the colonial abuses that Great Britain subjected Kenya to, but such was not forthcoming.