Nairobi — The gunmen who attempted to enter the High Court chambers were said to include members of the Presidential Guard The armoury they used was said PGB equipment, not standard UPDF issue.

The appearance last week of the "Black Mamba" an Urban Hit Squad - a previously unknown military group - has raised concern in Uganda about the increasing militarisation of politics and the police force.

The group besieged the High Court in Kampala and demanded to re-arrest 14 suspects who had been granted bail.

The 14 were accused along with opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye of treason.

Sources say that since 2001, the army has infiltrated the police force, to the extent that professional police officers now have only minimal say in the affairs of the force. Conservative estimates put the number of UPDF men in the force between 1,000 and 1,200.

One source who spoke to The EastAfrican on condition of anonymity said: "They are not appointed officers-in-charge or district police commanders because then they would have to sign documents and state their names and ranks."

He added: "They don't sign arrest warrants. They are appointed as deputies. They stay in the background but they are the ones in charge."

When Maj-Gen Katumba Wamala was appointed Inspector General of Police in 2001, he reportedly went into the force with a retinue of army officers and assistants separate from the constituted structure of the police.

Although his appointment caused concern, the personality of Wamala, seen as one of the few non-political and professional soldiers in the army, won over sections of the public.

But the change was defi-nite. From then on, the infiltration of the police by the army went into high gear. The appointment last month of Maj-Gen Kale Kaihura as IGP has been met with some indignation. A man seen as a military hardliner close to State House, Kaihura has long been a Museveni assistant, either commanding operations in Congo or Sudan, in the Revenue Authority, or acting as Chief Political Commissar for the army.

He was personally at Makerere University during the recent confrontations between rioting students and police. Two students were reported dead, though Kaihura was credited with helping to end the impasse.

Opposition politicians believe the army is being sent to the police to help the regime rig the 2006 elections. But they say that the government is breaking the law in the creation of shadow forces.

One of the politicians present at the High Court last week when the "Black Mambas" attempted to break into the chambers was MP John Ken Lukyamuzi. He described their entry to The EastAfrican.

"The squad jetted in by force of arms. They entered as terrorists. They were wearing dark glasses. They did not even seek the permission of the gatekeepers. They just shouted 'open'.

"The act was not only illegal but violated article 208 (2) of the constitution," Lukyamuzi added. "The civilian authority is no longer above the military. The constitution says nobody shall raise an armed force except in accordance with the constitution. That squad is not anywhere defined as an organ of the UPDF (Uganda People's Defence Forces)."

The gunmen who attempted to enter the High Court chambers were said to include members of the Presidential Guards Brigade. The armoury they used was said to be PGB equipment, not standard UPDF issue.

Part of the reason for the ongoing expansion of the police force ahead of the 2006 elections are the inadequacies noted in the last presidential and parliamentary elections. At the time, it was reported that the police force was only about 15,000 strong. This number was expected to man 17,000 polling stations at the time. The Parliamentary Report on election violence in the 2001 polls said the disparity was used as an excuse for bringing other armed forces into the elections.

The UPDF, Internal Security Organisation, Local Defence Units, District Internal Security Organisation, Gombola Internal Security Organisation, Kalangala Action Party, the Presidential Guards and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence were all actively involved in the 2001 elections. Not just the armed forces, but the offices as the Resident District Commissioners - an attachment to the local government structure that answers directly to State House - were recorded as actively involved in propagating violence.

The parliamentary report noted that the above forces were "brought into the election exercise on the argument that the police force are not able to perform well. They have little or no training in law and order." The report noted that it was these forces that were behind the violence, which "led to violations of human rights, rigging, violence and loss of lives as soldiers and state security became agents of particular interests."

Arua, Rukungiri, Gulu, Mbale, Kamwenge, Kanungu and Mbarara recorded some of the worst acts of violence.

In total, 17 people were killed for reasons related to the elections. More than 1,000 cases of electoral violence were registered.

In central Uganda, the violence was evenly split with supporters of Dr Kizza Besigye threatening as well as attacking President Museveni's supporters.

One Museveni campaign manager, Paul Muzira, a headmaster, was allegedly shot dead.

It was in western Uganda that the rivalry was at its most acrimonious. On March 2, 2001, a day before Besigye was due to address a rally in Rukungiri, the Presidential Protection Unit, under the command of one Captain Ndahura, commanded a squad that beat up Besigye's supporters as they prepared for the rally.

On March 3 itself, a crowd of Besigye supporters returning from the rally were set upon by the same unit. One Johnson Baronda, 47, was shot dead. Seven people were hospitalised with serious injuries. No one was arrested over the incidents.

Recent remarks by the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Aronda Nyakairima, were construed by the opposition as showing that he owed allegiance to Museveni and not to the army and the country.

Last week, the government announced it was forming a squad to tackle election-related violence but Museveni critics see this as further militarisation of the police force.

Said MP Aggrey Awori: "The police are going to be anxious to prove themselves. The new anti-terrorist squad is not going to be used against terrorists.