A former educator, Minnawi served as secretary to Sudan Liberation Army leader Abdul Wahid al-Nur before the organization split in 2004.

On September 14, 2006, in defiance of the central government's opposition, Minnawi supported the new UN peacekeeping force detailed in UNSC Resolution 1706, which was designed to protect the Sudanese people.

[5] Minnawi opposed the Sudan government's genocidal agenda, which was exercised by Omar al-Bashir against the Zaghawa people and other civilians, alleged crimes for which Bashir was later indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

[7] Minnawi resigned as Senior Assistant to the President of Sudan and as Chairperson of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority,[8] to ally his faction, SLM/MM, with the other resistance defense forces in Darfur, including Abdul Wahid's faction the SLM/AW, in resisting attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces, and its militias, on citizens in rebel-held areas.

[9] In May 2021, Minni Minnawi was appointed governor of the Darfur Regional Government after signing the Juba Peace Agreement the previous year.