A Namibian politician named after Adolf Hitler has won a local election.
Adolf Hitler Uunona won more than 85 percent of the vote for the ruling SWAPO in a regional council election in Oshana.
He is unconcerned about the furor surrounding his name.
“My name doesn’t mean I’m striving for world domination,” he told German newspaper Bild. “My father named me after this man. He probably didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for,” he told Bild. “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.”
Uunona says he prefers to be known as Adolf Uunona and assures people that he has no plans to take over the world.
“The fact I have this name does not mean I want to conquer Oshana,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I’m striving for world domination.”
Namibia was part of German territory called German South West Africa between 1884 and 1915. During that period, the German Empire slaughtered thousands of people during a 1904-08 revolt by local Nama, Herero and San people.
Historians refer to the period as “the forgotten genocide.”
Uunona won the election by a landslide. He racked up 1,196 votes in the election compared to 213 for his opponent. The SWAPO party has ruled Namibia since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Earlier this year, Namibia turned down a $12 million offer by Germany for reparations. President Hage Geingob called Germany’s offer of compensation for colonial-era killings, calling it “not acceptable.”
“The current offer for reparations made by the German government remains an outstanding issue and is not acceptable to the Namibian government,” Geingob said in a statement.
