UPDATE: The Senate has extended the deadline for submission on memoranda on the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2024 26th, October 2024, at 5 pm.
Submissions are to be sent to [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].
Senate revealed that it has received more than 200,000 written memoranda from Kenyans submitting their views on a bill seeking to extend the term limits for the president and other elected leaders.
The window for public participation on the controversial Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2024 had been scheduled to close on Friday, October 25, with a planned public participation forum at the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC).
On Friday, emails were still trickling in, with at least one memorandum being sent per second.
Senate earlier in a statement said that its email system experienced temporary issues due to the high number of submissions over the Bill that has received high levels of public backlash.
“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 received over 200,000 submissions, reaching the maximum capacity of the allocated email addresses,” said Senate in the statement.
As an alternative, Senate directed Kenyans to send their submissions to [email protected] and apologized for any inconvenience caused.
Sponsored by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, the bill has triggered uproar with Kenyans opposing it as an attempt by the political class to hold on to power.
Bill introduced in Senate
The proposed law increases the terms of service for the president, senators, MPs, MCAs and governors from the current five years to seven years.
The bill has been undergoing public participation since October 2.
Also Read: Extending Ruto’s Term: Senate Gives Way Forward on Cherargei’s Bill
More Kenyans are expected to make oral and physical submissions during Friday’s public participation forum by the Senate’s Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee at KICC.
“The committee will hold a public hearing on the Bill on Friday, October 25, 2024, at 9 am. Members of the public are welcome to attend this hearing,” the notice by Senate clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye reads.
The bill was read for the first time in the Senate on September 26, before being committed to the Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee for consideration.
President William Ruto and his ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party have slammed the bid to extend term limits for elective offices and distanced themselves from the proposal.
The ruling party through Secretary General Hassan Omar in a statement on October 2 maintained that it remains committed to uphold, defend the spirit of Constitution, terming the bid as “repugnant, retrogressive and primitive”.
Also Read: Bill Seeking to Extend Ruto’s Term to be Introduced in Parliament
The party said that the proposal does not seek to pursue any meaningful objectives beyond the “illegitimate, myopic and retrogressive” ends.
Ruto Declares Stance Over Extension of Presidential Term Limits
At the same time, the party called out the bill’s sponsors saying that they did not engage in sufficient reflection with regard to the historical origins, institutional basis and political necessity of term limits.
“The masterminds and sponsors of the constitutional amendment bill, who are evidently preoccupied with sensational distractions and perverse indulgence in political delinquency and legislative mischief, have not engaged in sufficient reflection with regard to the historical origins, institutional basis and political necessity of term limits,” UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar said.
This is the second attempt to alter the presidential term limit since President Ruto was elected in 2022.
The first attempt was fronted by Fafi Member of Parliament (MP) Farah Yakub who sought to scrap the term limit.
MP Yakub proposed the removal of the term limit and instead replaced it with an age limit of 75 years. However, the proposal flopped due a public outrage.
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