A Namibian politician named Adolf Hitler Uunona is back in headlines this week ahead of another projected election win.
As reported by multiple outlets in recent days, including The New Zealand Herald and The New York Post, Uunona is projected to win in the Southern African country again on Wednesday (Nov. 26), this after he received an estimated 85 percent of the vote back in 2020. Per reports, this will mark a fifth term for the 59-year-old.
In comments previously provided to The Namibian, Uunona, a member of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), said he “didn’t have a choice” in his name, which was given to him by his father.
“Hitler was a controversial person who captured and killed people across the globe,” Uunona, who also criticized what he viewed as sensationalistic news coverage of his name, was quoted as saying in 2020. “I am not like him. There is nothing that I can do to change the name. I also do not know why my father gave me that name.”
Uunon adds that while he was named after the German fascist leader, his father "probably didn't understand what Adolf Hitler stood for".
Upon Uunona’s prior election as councillor for the Ompundja constituency in Namibia in 2020, BBC pointed out that “Adolf,” specifically, is still a readily used name in Namibia. Notably, the country was under German Empire rule for several years, starting in 1884 and ending in 1915. By 1990, Namibia had gained its independence from South Africa.
As Uunona sees it, his name shouldn’t be pointed to as a sign of any connection to the Nazi Party leader’s hate-fueled rise to power.
“It doesn’t mean that I strive for world domination,” he once told the German publication Bild.