A politician named after Adolf Hitler has won an election in Namibia.
Adolf Hitler Uunona won 85 per cent of the vote in the former German colony, where there is still a small German-speaking community – and where a number of streets, places and people still bear German names.
But, the politician insisted, he wants “nothing to do with” Nazi ideology.
“My father named me after this man. He probably didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for,” he told German publication Bild.
Conquer
“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.”
Called ‘Adolf’ by his wife, he said he usually goes by Adolf Uunona – and that it was “too late” to change his name officially.
“The fact I have this name does not mean I want to conquer Oshana,” he said, referring to the Namibian region he was elected to represent. “It doesn’t mean I’m striving for world domination.”
His name was abbreviated to ‘Adolf H’ in a list of candidates printed by the government. And, despite his controversial title, he won in a landslide – racking up 1,196 votes compared to 213 for his opponents, returning him to a seat on the regional council that he had previously won in 2015.
Once known as German South West Africa, Namibia was a German colony from 1884 – until the country was stripped of its imperial possessions after World War I.
Related: Eton ‘works very well’ without girls, says Jacob Rees-Mogg
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
