The Kenyan Senate’s email infrastructure experienced a critical failure on Friday following an unprecedented surge of public submissions regarding a controversial constitutional amendment proposal.
The legislative body reported receiving over 200,000 responses to the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No 2) Bill, 2024, which proposes extending the presidential term limit from five to seven years.
The Senate has established an alternative email address to continue accepting public input in response to the system overload.
“Thank you for the overwhelming response on The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No 2) Bill, 2024. Due to high volumes of submissions, our email system has temporarily experienced issues,” the Senate said in a statement.
The bill, introduced by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, has sparked widespread opposition and mobilized significant public engagement.
The proposed legislation seeks to extend term limits not only for the presidency but also for senators, members of parliament, county assembly members, and governors.
This marks the second attempt to modify presidential term limits since President William Ruto’s election in 2022, following an earlier unsuccessful proposal by Fafi MP Farah Yakub that sought to replace term limits with an age cap of 75 years.
Public participation in the legislative process, which began on October 2, culminates in a forum at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
By Thursday evening, the Senate had already received more than 121,000 written memoranda opposing the bill, with submissions continuing to arrive at a rate of approximately one per second.
The scale of public response has surpassed that of other controversial legislation, including the recently rejected Finance Bill, 2024.
Prominent religious organizations have joined the chorus of opposition with the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) submitted a memorandum arguing that the current five-year term provides adequate time for policy implementation.
Similarly, the Ufungamano Joint Forum of Religious Organizations condemns the proposed changes as self-serving measures designed to benefit the political establishment.
The proposal has also created divisions within Kenya’s political leadership with National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah declaring his opposition and characterizing the bill as “dead on arrival.”
In a contrasting approach, Kiambu Senator Karungo Thang’wa has proposed reducing the presidential term to four years, arguing this would enhance governmental accountability and citizen participation in the political process.
