The Senate’s official email system crashed this week after receiving over 200,000 public submissions on the proposed Constitution of Kenya Amendment (No. 2) Bill, 2024.
This bill seeks to extend the terms of elected leaders, including the President, from five to seven years.
“Thank you for the overwhelming response to the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2024. Due to high submission volumes, our email system has temporarily experienced issues,” read a statement from the Senate on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Senate noted that the massive influx of feedback had filled the capacity of allocated email addresses.
To manage the situation, the Senate provided alternative contact options for Kenyans wishing to submit their views.
Feedback can now be hand-delivered to the Clerk’s office at Parliament Buildings or emailed to clerk.senate@parliament.go.ke, with a copy to senatejlahrc@parliament.go.ke. Additionally, the Senate extended the deadline for submissions to Saturday, October 26, at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, religious leaders have condemned the proposed amendment, calling it “self-serving” and warning it primarily serves the interests of the ruling class.
“It’s been two years of Ruto’s reign, and we’re already exhausted. Seven years will break our backs,” they expressed in a joint statement.
Sponsored by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, the bill has been open to public feedback since October 2. If passed, it would extend the terms of the President, Governors, Senators, Members of Parliament, and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) to seven years, though the President and Governors would still be limited to two consecutive terms.
