A former Australian citizen and activist Sekai Holland has been given a cabinet seat in Zimbabwe‘s hybrid Government.

The unexpected appointment came after opposition parties led by Morgan Tsvangirai insisted on an expanded cabinet to that proposed by the President, Robert Mugabe, this week as part of a fragile power-sharing arrangement in Zimbabwe.

Mrs Holland’s appointment as one of five special ministers of state marks a high point in a long journey as an activist in the country, including a brutal beating in Harare in March 2007.

She sustained three broken ribs, a broken leg and arm, a fractured knee and multiple bruises in the attack, as the Mugabe Government cracked down on opposition parties.

She previously lived in Sydney for 16 years, until 1980, and is married to an Australian citizen, Jim Holland.

She was a vocal opponent of the Australian cricket team’s planned tour of Zimbabwe in 2007, which was eventually cancelled amid growing international pressure on Mr Mugabe to resign. Mr Mugabe was forced to negotiate with opposition parties throughout the week, after drawing up a list of 31 ministers to form the new Government without consulting Mr Tsvangirai.

At a swearing in ceremony on Thursday night in Harare Mrs Holland was one of five special ministers included in the new cabinet at the last minute as part of a compromise. It also represents a breakthrough for her splinter opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, which now has 15 seats in the new Government.

Mr Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party has 17 of the 36 ministers, and the remaining four ministers are from a breakaway Movement for Democratic Change party, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara.

(Source)