Adolf Hitler Breezes to an Easy Re-Election in Namibia

How tough is it to win an election when your name is Adolf Hitler? Not too tough in Namibia, where Adolf Hitler Uunona has swept to a fifth consecutive victory in regional elections in the northern farming district where he has held office since 2004.Associations with the notorious German dictator and mass murderer mean little, apparently, to Mr. Uunona’s roughly 3,000 constituents, who reportedly appreciate his record for tending to local issues including pothole repairs, road grading, and school upgrades.The 59-year-old politician was returned with 85 percent of the vote at his last election in 2020. A final tally of votes from Wednesday’s latest balloting were not yet available Thursday but Mr. Uunoma’s election was reported to be overwhelming.While his civic duties may be modest, curiosity about his name has made Mr. Uunona one of the best-known politicians in Namibia, a former German colony where German names are not unusual.In one of several interviews around the time of his 2020 re-election, he told the German newspaper Bild that his father “probably didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for” when he was given the name.“As a child, I saw it as a totally normal name. Only as I grew up did I understand this man wanted to conquer the whole world. I have nothing to do with any of these things.”These days, the politician says, he doesn’t often use his middle name, preferring to be known simply as Adolf Uunona, and around the home is simply called Adolf by his wife.But he has no plans to try to change his name, he says, explaining, “It’s on all my official documents. It’s too late for that.”And frankly, Mr. Uunona is getting a little tired of all the attention being paid to his unusual name.“I am not going to entertain the conversation, there is no reason we should be sitting here, having an entire conversation about my name,” he said in an interview with the French news agency, AFP.“You really want us to have an entire conversation about my name? How will that make Namibia a better country, how will it contribute to the development of our country?”Mr. Uunona will continue to serve as one of the country’s 121 regional councillors, who serve as a link between their communities and the central government, dealing principally with development issues including roads, schools, and infrastructure.

Adolf Hitler Breezes to an Easy Re-Election in Namibia

Adolf Hitler Breezes to an Easy Re-Election in Namibia

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