Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, has secured a landslide victory in an election that was meant to cement his reformist reputation. Instead, it has deepened fears of a slide into all-out war. The vote, boycotted by major opposition parties and marred by allegations of rigging, gives Abiy a fresh mandate.
But in the restive Tigray region, where federal troops have been battling local forces for months, the result is seen as a provocation. The United Nations warns that the conflict could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe drawing in regional rivals. Meanwhile, British defence sources confirm that a contingent of peacekeepers has been placed on standby, ready to deploy if the ceasefire collapses.
For the people of the Horn of Africa, the ghosts of past wars are stirring. On the streets of Addis Ababa, there is little jubilation. The price of bread has doubled in a year.
Farmers cannot get their crops to market. And across the border in Sudan, refugees are already fleeing. The question now is whether the international community can stop this before it becomes another Ethiopia: a country torn apart by its own success.
