Changing term length requires referendum

The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2024 proposing to extend the terms of elected officials from five to seven years raises significant concerns regarding the basic structure doctrine.

This doctrine, emphasised in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) judgment by the Court of Appeal, protects core constitutional principles from being altered without a referendum.

The Constitution guarantees regular elections every five years as outlined in Articles 101, 136 and 177. These elections ensure accountability and uphold the democratic right of citizens choose their leaders regularly.

The proposed extension undermines this principle, reducing opportunities for public oversight and diluting democratic checks.

Essential features

The BBI ruling established that essential features such as the frequency of elections cannot be changed without public participation through a referendum as they are part of the Constitution’s basic structure.

Therefore, any attempt to alter the electoral cycle through parliamentary action alone as proposed by this Bill would be unconstitutional.

The Bill challenges democratic safeguards and could weaken the electoral process, which makes it necessary for Kenyans to oppose the amendment.

Ayub Njuguna, Egerton University

The Bill by Senator Samson Cherargei seeks to, among others, increase the term of the President, MPs, senators, governors and ward reps from five to seven years. The Senate has invited submissions on the Bill, which are to be sent to the Clerk by Friday. There will also be a public hearing on the Bill on the same day.

When Kenyans voted for the President, governors and all the others, they mandated them to represent them for five years, with a provision for recalling them if they did not perform.

For the terms of engagement of these politics to change, the common mwananchi must have a say, not just the politicians.

Godfrey Gikonyo, Lamu