A politician named after infamous German politician and leader Adolf Hitler has won a seat at a Namibian election – but says he has no plans for world domination.
Adolf Hitler Uunona won more than 85 per cent of the vote for the ruling SWAPO in a regional council election in Oshana, Namibia.
The Southwestern African country was a former colony of Germany and shares many street names and family names with the European nation.
Speaking to Bild after his electoral victory, Hitler said he had “nothing to do with” Nazi ideology.
“My father named me after this man. He probably didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for,” Uunona said.
“As a child, I saw it as a totally normal name. Only as a teenager did I understand that this man wanted to conquer the whole world.”
“The fact that I have this name does not mean I want to conquer Oshana [the region of Namibia in which he has just won a seat].”
The politician said his wife calls him Adolf, and that he usually goes by Adolf Uunona, but that it was “too late” to go about officially changing his name.
Uunona won 1,196 votes in the recent election compared to 213 for his opponent, returning him to a seat on the regional council which he previously won in 2015. His name was abbreviated to “Adolf H” in a list of candidates printed in a government gazette, but his name appeared in full on an official results website.
