The Ethiopian premier is manipulating ethnic rivalries to shift the agenda from democratic reform to authoritarianism.
The tensions that had been simmering between the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Abiy administration eventually boiled over.
President John Magufuli won a second term by a contested landslide and looks set to take even greater control of Tanzania's democratic space.
The country must urgently address the politics of ethnicity before it can move towards a workable democracy.
COVID-19 travel restrictions are adding to the growing pressure on observer missions to prove their worth.
