Former presidential candidate Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye left for Johannesburg Thursday evening from London after five days of meetings there, exiled former Member of Parliament for youth (Western), Maj. Rabwoni Okwir told The Monitor from London.

According to Okwir, Besigye and he had not yet talked to Winnie Byanyima, MP for Mbarara municipality and Besigye’s wife. However, Okwir had heard the news that Byanyima was released on bail and he had heard further word that the government was preparing to re-arrest her on charges of embezzlement of 32m shillings belonging to Forum for Women in Development (FOWODE), an NGO she once chaired.

Okwir added that the government’s charges against Byanyima of illegal possession of a firearm were not viable. He said Besigye rightfully owned the pistol as the Senior Military Advisor to the Minister of State for Defence, a position he held from February 1998 to October 2000. Besigye held three documents validating his ownership of the pistol, Okwir said, and Byanyima probably has those documents with her in Uganda.

When asked if he thought Byanyima should try to escape the country, Okwir responded, "That’s the only option she has. She is the only one they can get now." Okwir said he thought Byanyima believed she could resist government harassment through legal measures. However, he said, "My own personal reading is, pressure will be exerted from the outside rather than from the inside."

Byanyima’s brother Anthony Byanyima and Deus Bainomugisa both escaped from government custody and were believed to be in Rwanda on Sunday. Okwir said he had not heard from either man since they left Uganda.

Okwir said Besigye arrived in London from the U.S. Saturday night. Since then, Besigye and Okwir have been meeting with Ugandans and officials in the British government and the commonwealth secretariat. The retired Col. has been reiterating the arguments he made during three weeks in the U.S. after his Aug. 17 escape from Kampala.

"We have been trying to convince governments and other donor agencies that the situation in Uganda is not as rosy as painted in western press. The level of observance of human rights and even good governance has dropped in the last five years," said Okwir, who stayed with Besigye in London. "We are also trying to call attention to our dangerous regional policy, with donor money going down the drain like in the ventures in the Congo."

Okwir has been spreading that same message since his arrival in the United Kingdom. He has been living in Glascow, Scotland since his February 27 departure from Uganda soon after his arrest at Entebbe Airport during the presidential campaigns -- he had been working as the head of Besigye’s youth desk until the arrest.

"Since I arrived in the country, I have been trying to coordinate the efforts of Ugandans who feel we should have a change and an improvement in the level of human rights," Okwir said. "I’ve also been trying to meet Ugandans living abroad and other civil-society agents here in Europe interested in Africa, especially those interested in the development of the Great Lakes region."

Thus far, Okwir has received some positive responses. However, he realizes that in light of the terrorist attacks that killed thousands in the United States on Tuesday, donor-nation attention is likely to shift from Africa for some time. "The few benefits we are getting from the positive part of globalization will melt away," Okwir predicted. "A lot of wealth was lost in that hour [of attacks], perhaps equal to the total GNP of all Africa nations. I see a tendency of America and Europe looking at their own problems because of the fall in the stock market and the impending recession. Africa will become more and more marginalized. That is not good news."

The Monitor asked Okwir if Besigye is still planning to return to Uganda. "I don’t think he’ll return through the airport," Okwir said, laughing ruefully. "He’s very unsafe."

Okwir would not comment on Besigye’s program in South Africa. He did say that Ugandan working abroad continue to support Besigye with money and logistics.

"Some of us are young men, and we cannot resign ourselves to living in exile," said Okwir, in an appeal and veiled threat to Museveni’s government. "The sooner they realize this and open up the political space, it will be better for everybody. If they don’t realize it, we’ll be forced to use the same methods Museveni used when he felt disenfranchised under Idi Amin and Milton Obote.

"We’ll continue pushing diplomatic efforts, but if all fails, if Museveni, a man known across the world as a democrat, is now becoming another [Zimbabwe president] Robert Mugabe, then we’ll have to use other unconstitutional methods," Okwir added.

However, Okwir vehemently denied that he and Besigye are tied to the rebels reportedly recruiting in western Uganda, or any other rebel groups. "I think that is just a hoax," Okwir said. "These people are paranoid. We have not done anything. If we were doing something militarily, they would know."