The Senate's email system crashed on Friday as Kenyans came out in their droves to provide their submissions regarding the controversial Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
This comes after the Senate invited public participation towards the Bill as per the Constitution (2010). Per the law, people can air out their views regarding Bills sponsored in the National Assembly and Senate through electronic means.
In a statement posted on the X handle, the Senate announced that due to the high number of submissions, their system experienced temporary issues.
“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 further added that the process reached maximum capacity and exceeded the limit that the system could handle.
“The Senate received over 200,000 submissions, reaching the maximum capacity of the allocated email addresses.”
The Senate went ahead to provide an alternative email address to Kenyans as the process is still ongoing. The deadline for providing submissions has been extended to Saturday, October 26 at 5pm.
“Alternatively, you may send your submissions to senatejlahrc@parliament.go.ke” Kenyans are currently at the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) submitting their written memoranda regarding the Bill.
After the expiry of the deadline, the Bill will head back to Senate where it will be debated with the collected views of the public among the key topics of discussion.
The Bill seeks to amend the Presidential term to seven years from the current five. This amendment also proposes to extend the terms of other elected leaders; Governors, Members of Parliament (MPs), Senators and Members of County Assembly (MCAs).
The Bill was sponsored by Nandi senator Samson Cherargei and has drawn a multitude of reactions from Kenyans, politicians and advocacy groups with a great majority rejecting it.
Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang'wa subsequently proposed a new four year term limit for the President as well as other elected leaders in what was seen as a response to Cherargei's Bill. He argued that the shorter term limit will enable the emergence of new leaders who would prioritize the needs of the citizens.
