NAMIBIAN politician Adolf Hitler Uunona has been forced to change his name despite being re-elected, to avoid unwanted links with an infamous historical figure.
Councillor Uunona, who shares a name with the controversial leader, says it garners too much unwanted attention.
Uunona said his father was unaware of the German dictator’s crimes when he named him.
The 57-year-old was re-elected this week as councillor for the Ompundja constituency for the fifth time by the small population in the northern Oshana region of the desert nation.
Uunona – who has been a politician for two decades – told local media outlet The Namibian that he had officially changed his name.
Now going by Adolf Uunona, he said people had previously tried to “associate him with someone I do not even know”.
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The well-liked politician has consistently distanced himself from Nazi ideology, saying his father chose the name without understanding the historical ramifications.
Growing up, Uunona said he thought his name was ordinary.
After his first election in 2020, he told local reporters his father “probably didn’t know what Adolf Hitler stood for”.
“When I was a child it was just a normal name to me,” he said.
“Only later did I realise this man wanted to conquer the whole world.
“I have nothing to do with any of those things.”
Uunona, a councillor with the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation party, said “There is no reason for us to be sitting here to talk about my name”.
“The fact I have this name does not mean I want to conquer Oshana,” he said, referring to the region where he was elected.
“It doesn’t mean I’m striving for world domination.”
Unconcerned by the affiliations with his name, Uunona is popular with his constituents for his grassroots political work and his approachable demeanor.
Namibia, previously named German South West Africa, was declared a German colony in 1884, meaning Germanic names are not uncommon in the older parts of the community.
In 2021, Germany acknowledged the genocide it committed in the country during the early twentieth century, after the Herero and Nama people rebelled against seizures of their land and cattle.
The recognition also came with a $1.2 billion (€1.1 billion) promise for investment in development funding.
Lothar von Trotha – the military administration head at the time – had called for the extermination of the population in response to the uprising.
Survivors were forced into the desert and later into concentration camps, and exploited for labour, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Namibians.
The colony fell under South African control after the First World War, until it gained independence in 1990, following a 25-year bush war.