Namibia: Adolf Hitler won local election
The long-serving Swapo Party regional councilor for the Oshana region's Ompundja constituency, Adolf Hitler Uunona, says he did not choose to be named after German dictator Adolf Hitler.
His name made international headlines, some calling him the “Adolf Hitler of Africa”.
Uunona's name first grabbed international attention when he was announced as the councilor for Ompundja constituency following his victory in the regional council and local authority elections. According to the 54-year-old Adolf Hitler Uunona, his father named him after the Nazi leader when he was still a baby.
Uunona, who was re-elected as councilor for that constituency in the recent regional council and local authority elections, said “my father gave me this name Adolf Hitler, but it does not mean I have Adolf Hitler's character or resemble that of Adolf Hitler of Germany”.
“Hitler was a controversial person who captured and killed people across the globe. I am not like him,” he said.
“There is nothing that I can do to change the name. I also do not know why my father gave me that name.”
He also lashed out at the international media that published his photograph next to that of Adolf Hitler.
He also said people should not worry about him or his name as he is “a good person, just like any other person”. He further asserted that if he had a choice, he would not have agreed to be named Adolf Hitler because of the atrocities Hitler had committed.
NamRights executive director Phil ya Nangoloh described a news report by German newspaper Bild on Uunona as intended to defame Uunona.
He further stated that the author of the article, Sebastian Geisler, maliciously and sensationally referred to Uunona as “Adolf Hitler of Africa”.
“I have reasonable grounds as well as reasonable and probable cause for believing that the personal attack on honourable Uunona is intended to serve two malicious objectives.”
“One such objective is to victimise honourable Uunona personally for having been elected as a new member of parliament for the ruling Swapo party,” he said.
