Meet Namibia's newly elected councilor: Adolf Hitler

Ompundja, Namibia – The election results are in and it's a landslide. Namibia has a new councilor and his name is... Adolf Hitler!

Adolf Hitler inspects members of the Nazi Party in 1930 (archive image).
Adolf Hitler inspects members of the Nazi Party in 1930 (archive image).  © imago images / Design Pics

In the northern district of Ompundja on the Namibian-Angolan border, Adolf Hitler Uunona won 1196 votes, trouncing his opponent, who received only 213 votes.

This means that the 54-year-old now has a seat on the regional council, even though his SWAPO party lost significantly in the elections overall.

The politician seems not to have been hampered by his appalling appellation.

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"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 Namibian told the Daily Mail.

Today, the local politician assumes that his father probably didn't know what the name stood for at the time of his birth. Adolf Hitler Uunona insisted that he has "nothing to do with" Nazi ideology and promised that he no intention to invade other countries in the future.

In his new function as councilor, he wants to improve local living conditions. "I'm not striving for world domination," said the regional politician.

Adolf Hitler Uunona "owes" his strange name to his father

The first name Adolf is not unusual in Namibia. From 1884 to 1915, the country was occupied by the German Empire as a colony of German South West Africa. The period witnessed a brutal genocide perpetrated by the German troops, resulting in the deaths of around 80,000 Herero and Nama people. Many historians describe the colonial project as a precursor to the Holocaust of 1941-1945.

Germany and Namibia are currently in negotiations for a plan of redress. Namibia rejected Germany's most recent proposal as insufficient, according to The Guardian. The eventual settlement is significant, as it could inspire more countries to demand recognition and compensation from their former colonial victimizers.

Despite the burden his name brings, Adolf Hitler Uunona does not want to give it up because it's in all his official documents. Nevertheless, he is careful not to use the name Hitler in public, adding that his wife just calls him Adolf.

Cover photo: Montage: imago images / Design Pics, Screenshot Twitter @EagleFMNam 

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