Adolf Hitler Uunona — a Namibian regional politician whose name inevitably ricochets around the world every election cycle — has secured another term in office, marking his fifth consecutive victory in the country’s far-north Ompundja constituency.

Uunona, 59, a veteran member of Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party, coasted to re-election, continuing a political run that has long overshadowed his unusual and deeply problematic name. Namibia’s Electoral Commission has not yet released official tallies, but EuroNews reported that the longtime councilor once again won by a wide margin. In 2020, he captured roughly 85% of the vote.

For years, Uunona has insisted that the name — Adolf Hitler — is an accident of history rather than ideology. He typically goes by “Adolf Uunona” in daily life, dropping the most infamous surname of the 20th century. And he says he has no intention of altering it formally.

“It’s in all official documents. It’s too late for that,” he told Germany’s Bild newspaper in a 2020 interview. The councilman said his father gave him the name without understanding its dark, genocidal associations. “As a child I saw it as a totally normal name,” he said, only later realizing, as he put it, “This man wanted to subjugate the whole world.”

Uunona has repeatedly stressed that he rejects Nazi ideology, calling any connection between his name and his politics “nonsense.”

While his name periodically attracts global attention, it remains largely a non-issue among his constituents. Locals credit his decades-long involvement in anti-apartheid activism and SWAPO’s broader legacy as the party that led Namibia out of colonial rule. Germanic names — including Adolf — are still relatively common in the country, a legacy of Namibia’s period under German colonial control before South African rule and eventual independence in 1990.

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