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04 December 2020 


His name is Adolf Hitler and he won the local elections in Namibia with overwhelming numbers.

But he has nothing in common with the Nazi dictator and, he says, "no intention of world domination".

Adolf Hitler Uunona, reports the BBC online, was elected councilor of the constituency of Ompundja with 85 percent of the vote last week.

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, the politician reiterated that he "has nothing to do" with Nazi ideology.

By the way, Adolf, like other German names, is not uncommon in the country, which was once a German colony.

Uunona was elected to the ruling Swapo party that led the campaign against colonial rule by the white minority.

He admitted that his father gave him the name that was after the Nazi leader, but explained that "he probably didn't understand what Adolf Hitler stood for".

"As a child I saw it as a completely normal name. It was only when I grew up that I understood: this man wanted to subjugate the whole world," he said.

And he added: "I have nothing to do with any of these things."

Uunona said his wife calls him Adolf and he calls himself that even in public and has no plans to change his name.  



Between 1884 and 1915, Namibia was part of the German territory called German South West Africa.

The German Empire killed thousands of people in a 1904-1908 revolt by local Nama, Herero and San populations, in what some historians have called "the forgotten genocide".

Earlier this year, Namibia turned down a € 10 million offer from Germany in compensation, claiming it would continue to negotiate.