A politician named after the leader of Nazi Germany has won an election in Namibia. But Adolf Hitler Uunona has distanced himself from his namesake, and says he has no plans for world domination.

The politician won more than 85% of the vote for the ruling SWAPO party in the regional council election in Oshana. After his victory Uunona told Bild he had ‘nothing to do with’ Nazi ideology.

He added: ‘My father named me after this man. He probably didn’t understand what Adolf Hitler stood for. ‘As a child I saw it as a totally normal name. Only as a teenager did I understand that this man wanted to conquer the whole world.’

Namibia, in South West Africa, is a former German colony, which has been ruled by the SWAPO since gaining independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

German soldiers massacred tens of thousands of Herero people after they revolted against their colonial rulers. The ethnic group were driven into the Kalahari Desert, as their wells were poisoned and food supplies cut, while many were sent to prison camps. As many as 3,000 Herero skulls were sent to Berlin for German scientists to examine for signs that they were of racially inferior.

Germany was booted out of the country in 1915 before it was passed to South Africa.