125 years: Mangi Commemoration Day in Old Moshi

March 2, 2025 marks the 125th anniversary of the execution of the leaders of Kilimanjaro and Meru who were hanged by the Germans. We support descendants in Tanzania on this commemoration day and in the repatriation of the abducted ancestral remains.

Since 2019, the resistance fighters against German colonialism have been commemorated annually on March 2 in Old Moshi (Kilimanjaro, Tanzania): 125 years ago, 19 leaders of the Wachagga, Wameru and Waarusha were publicly hanged here on the orders of German colonial officers, including Mangi Meli of Moshi, Mangi Molelia of Kibosho, Mangi Ngalami of Kibognoto and Mangi Lobulu of Meru. A memorial and the exhibition “Mangi Meli Remains” by Flinn Works at the tree of execution in Old Moshi now commemorate this event. 
After the violent deaths of the leaders, their remains were sent to Germany for racist “research purposes”. Some of these so-called Ancestral Remains have since been identified through the “Marejesho” project by Flinn Works, Berlin Postkolonial and Old Moshi Cultural Tourism in Berlin and New York. 
Last year, Katja Keul, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, took part in the commemoration day in Old Moshi and asked for forgiveness for the colonial crimes on behalf of the German government, as Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had previously done in Songea in southern Tanzania. But the relatives are still waiting for their ancestors to be repatriated.
2025 marks the 125th anniversary of the crime of execution. We would like to support the communities on Kilimanjaro and Meru in their commemoration and enable the descendants of the victims to network. The Remembrance Day is a civil society initiative. We are therefore dependent on donations for funding. It is organized by Gabby Mzei Orio (Old Moshi Cultural Tourism) in cooperation with the village administration of Old Moshi. 

The following program is planned:

- Wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial under the tree of execution
- Traditional Wachagga dance and song
- Speeches by invited guests
- Information on the status of provenance research and restitution
- Public discussion with relatives and representatives from politics and society on the issue of the human remains and cultural objects of Wachagga, Wameru and Waarusha in German collections
- Pupils from Old Moshi plant trees
- Film screening of “The Empty Grave” (Kaburi Wazi) by Agnes-Lisa Wegner and Cece Mlay