NAIROBI – Abiy Ahmed left Ethiopians breathless when he became the prime minister in 2018, introducing a wave of political reforms in the long-repressive country and announcing a shocking peace with enemy Eritrea.
The young prime minister was cheered as he toured Ethiopia in his feverish first days, including when he visited the country’s powerful Tigray region, whose leaders had dominated the country’s ruling coalition for decades.
The international community, dazzled, showered Abiy with praise. Not even two years after taking power, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.Now — a year later — Abiy is waging war in the defiant Tigray region, accusing its forces of a deadly attack on a military base, and his shine is threatening to wear off as.