The Great Hanging at Old Moshi, also known as the Great Chagga Conspiracy, was a mass execution that took place on March 2, 1900, under German colonial rule in what is now northern Tanzania. Nineteen local leaders and noblemen from the Chagga, Rwa, and Arusha ethnic groups were executed in public by the German authorities, accused of plotting a rebellion against the colonial regime.
In the late 19th century, during the height of the European scramble for Africa, Germany sought to establish itself as a colonial power. In 1884, Karl Peters, a German adventurer and representative of the Society for German Colonization, signed a series of questionable treaties with local leaders along the East African coast and interior. These treaties ended up giving Germany a foothold in the region and allowed them to claim authority over large areas of territory.
Over the next few years, the Germans used military expeditions, strategic alliances, and brutal force to suppress local resistance and solidify their hold over the region. German colonial administrators imposed taxes, labor demands, and land seizures, all of which led to widespread resentment and resistance among the African population.
Among the many groups resisting German encroachment were the Chagga people, a network of small, autonomous chiefdoms located on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. These communities were prosperous and well-organized, with long-standing rivalries and alliances among them. The Germans exploited these divisions, often elevating one leader over another to maintain control. One such figure was Mangi Marealle of Marangu, who would play a central role in the tragedy at Old Moshi.
Among these Chagga leaders, Mangi Meli of Moshi and Mangi Molelia of Kibosho stood out. Both were young, proud, and increasingly wary of German encroachment. Their growing popularity and resistance to German demands made them targets for German suspicion. Meanwhile, Mangi Marealle of Marangu, another local leader, saw an opportunity to eliminate his rivals by feeding the colonial administration false intelligence.
The incident began as a rumor. Captain Kurt Johannes, a German military officer stationed at the Moshi Boma, received reports, encouraged by Marealle, that the Warusha of Arusha Juu were planning an uprising against German authority. According to these rumors, two prominent young leaders, Mangi Meli of Moshi and Mangi Molelia of Kibosho, were key conspirators in the plot. Both men, in their twenties, were respected and influential within their communities. More importantly, they had a history of resisting German demands and colonial interference, making them natural targets for German suspicion.
The so-called conspiracy was a complete fabrication. Marealle, backed by other local allies, concocted the story as a strategic move to eliminate political rivals and secure their positions with the German colonial administration. The Germans, eager to suppress any challenge to their rule, readily accepted the claims without proper investigation. Captain Johannes saw the accusation as an opportunity to silence leaders who had refused to submit, and moved swiftly against them.
Though Meli and Molelia were aware that tensions were rising, they underestimated the danger. Molelia even ignored a prophetic warning from his seer, who predicted his death by hanging. Unaware of the trap closing around them, the young leaders remained defiant and unworried, until it was too late.
In early February 1900, Captain Johannes launched a military expedition to Arusha, supposedly to confront the Warusha for their part in the alleged conspiracy.
The Warusha were quickly defeated at the Battle of Arusha. Their cattle were seized and distributed to loyal Chagga groups as plunder. Yet the main purpose of the expedition lay ahead. On the return journey, Johannes planned to eliminate the supposed conspirators, Mangi Meli and Mangi Molelia, once and for all.
On February 27, 1900, a soldier summoned Molelia to report to the Moshi Boma. Upon his arrival in Moshi, he and his entourage were immediately arrested. One man was executed on the spot for attempting to flee. The following day, March 1, Johannes demanded that Molelia, Mangi Meli, and 17 other leaders confess to plotting against the German regime. No actual trial took place. The outcome had already been decided.
By March 2, all 19 men had been condemned. They were marched to a large tree near the Msangachi River ravine, next to the Moshi Boma. There, in full view of the people of Moshi and neighboring kingdoms, they were executed one by one. Each man was forced to climb the tree before being hanged. The event was described by witnesses as the most horrifying scene ever witnessed on the mountain. Families and villagers watched in terror and helplessness as their leaders were publicly executed.
The cruelty of the German forces did not end with the executions. In the aftermath, the heads of many of the men were removed, packed into boxes, and shipped over 6,000 kilometers to Germany. These remains became part of a macabre collection of human specimens housed in Berlin museums.
After the execution of the 19 leaders, Captain Johannes swiftly appointed new chiefs who were loyal to the German regime, including Sianga, the uncle of Mangi Molelia, as the new leader of Kibosho. Marealle, the man who instigated the conspiracy accusations, accompanied the soldiers to occupy the Kibosho mission and announce the change in leadership.
This brutal display of power was not an isolated incident. A few years later, during the Herero and Nama uprisings in what is now Namibia, the Germans would again demonstrate their cruelty by beheading many of the dead and sending their skulls to Germany for scientific studies, continuing a pattern of dehumanization and terror that had already taken root in East Africa.
In the following months, fear and silence gripped the Chagga highlands. Many families lost their breadwinners and elders. Political structures were dismantled or forcibly reshaped to serve the interests of the colonial administration. The humiliation suffered by the Chagga was not only physical and emotional, but deeply spiritual as well. The public nature of the killings, the desecration of the bodies, and the confiscation of ancestral remains cut deeply into the cultural and spiritual life of the people.
Even today, the Great Hanging of Old Moshi is remembered with pain and solemnity. In Tsudunyi, under the same acacia tree where the executions took place, there is a statue of Mangi Meli. It stands as a quiet reminder of the cruelty of colonial rule and the courage of those who resisted it. The memorial draws visitors from across Tanzania and abroad, not only to remember the 19 men who died but also to reflect on the larger legacy of German colonial violence in East Africa.
Sources:
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/magazine/exhibit-brings-mangi-meli-of-old-moshi-back-to-life-1411106
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67209935.amp
