Politician named Adolf Hitler becomes focal point of local election campaign

A Namibian local politician named Adolf Hitler Uunona is widely expected to retain his council seat in the country s latest round of regional elections drawing international attention for a name he says carries no ideological meaning A longtime member of Namibia s ruling SWAPO party he is running again in the Ompundja constituency in the northern Oshana region While final tallies have not yet been issued several international outlets description he is projected to win by a wide margin consistent with previous elections SWAPO which has governed Namibia since independence in has shifted from its socialist liberation roots toward a more centrist market-oriented governing approach GERMANY TO RETURN ANCIENT STONE CROSS TO NAMIBIAHis German dictator-linked name Adolf Hitler was given to him by his father he explained the German outlet Bild who he claimed did not understand the historical weight the name carried It was a perfectly normal name for me when I was a kid Uunona notified Bild It wasn t until I grew older that I realized this man needed to subjugate the whole world and killed millions of Jews He stated his childhood name reflected no political intent and stressed that he has never held extremist beliefs The fact I have this name does not mean I want to conquer Oshana he explained adding in earlier interviews that he generally goes by Adolf Uunona in daily life Namibia was a German colony from to and Germanic names and place names remain common in certain communities Historians note that this legacy sometimes results in atypical or jarring combinations by modern standards though they carry no inherent ideological meaning According to official information from the Oshana regional regime the Ompundja constituency has inhabitants administrative centers and covers square kilometers