The local leader, who generally goes by the name ‘Adolf Uunona’ in public, said that he had no intention of changing his name as it is already on “all official documents”. (Photograph: elections.na/Bundesarchiv via Wikimedia Commons)The result of a local election in the Southern African nation of Namibia has captured the world’s attention after a politician named after Adolf Hitler won a sweeping victory. But unlike his namesake, Adolf Hitler Uunona insists that he has no plans of world domination, BBC reported.
The 54-year-old politician, who is a member of the ruling Swapo party, was elected councilor in the Ompundja Constituency after he won roughly 85 per cent of the vote. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, Uunona clarified that he had “nothing to do” with Nazi ideology.
Adolf is not an uncommon name in the country, which was once a German colony. While his father did name him after the Nazi leader, Uunona said that he probably “didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for”.
“As a child I saw it as a totally normal name,” he said. “It wasn’t until I was growing up that I realised: This man wanted to subjugate the whole world. I have nothing to do with any of these things.”
“The fact I have this name does not mean I want to conquer Oshana (the region in northern Namibia where the Ompundja Constituency is located),” he reiterated.
The local leader, who generally goes by the name ‘Adolf Uunona’ in public, said that he had no intention of changing his name as it is already on “all official documents”.
In the period between 1884 and 1915, the African nation of Namibia was part of German territory, which was then called German South West Africa. It was only after World War One that the country came under South African control and later gained independence in 1990.
To this day, the country is home to a small German-speaking community and several towns and streets have retained their German names. Earlier this year, Germany offered Namibia €10 million in reparations, which the country turned down saying it would continue to negotiate for a “revised offer”, BBC reported.