A politician named Adolf Hitler won a regional election in Namibia, though he stressed he has no plans for world domination.
Adolf Hitler Uunona was elected for a seat on the regional council with 85% of the vote. He appeared on the ballot as Adolf H. Uunona, which he prefers to be called, according to Newsweek.
Uunona said he wasn’t aware of who the infamous Hitler was until he was a teenager. Namibia, a former German colony, still has street names, people, and places with German names.
“My father named me after this man. He probably didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for. 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 told the German newspaper Bild.
Uunona received 1,196 votes in the election compared to the 213 for his opponent. Uunona is a member of the ruling SWAPO party, which has ruled the country since its independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Uunona, 54, said his wife calls him Adolf, and even if he wanted to, it would likely be too late for him to officially change his name.
“The fact I have this name does not mean I want to conquer Oshana,” Uunona said, referring to the region where he won the election. “It doesn’t mean I’m striving for world domination.”
