Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo has pointed out that no constitutional amendment sponsored by Parliament has succeeded in the past 13 years.

Speaking during an interview on a local radio station on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the senator noted that although the Senate is expected to conduct public participation on the current constitutional amendment process, history shows that such initiatives rarely go through due to a lack of the required two-thirds majority.

“I am told we are going to do public participation in the Senate; on our constitutional amendment, it’s welcomed, but in my 13 years or so, there is no single constitutional amendment that has ever gone through. You will always lack the numbers,” he stated.

He recalled that the only attempt that passed the National Assembly was the amendment concerning the National Government-Constituency Development Fund, which is still pending before the Senate.

“There is no constitutional amendment initiative by Parliament that has ever gone through; it never gets a two-thirds majority other than the one for CDF that went through the National Assembly and has yet to go through the Senate,” he added.

Maanzo added that other initiatives, including one proposed by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma, failed to meet the threshold, with Kaluma’s amendment losing by just a single vote despite its popularity.

“There was a time when Kaluma’s amendment just lost by one vote. Who wanted to amend the Constitution? It was a very popular constitutional amendment.”

Senate resumption after recess

This comes ahead of the resumption of Senate sittings after a month-long recess.

These breaks, according to parliamentary standing orders and acts of parliament, are essential since they help the MPs in balancing their parliamentary duties with grassroots engagements, ensuring the lawmakers remain connected to their constituents as well as advancing national legislation as mandated to them by the constitution.

Senator Maanzo has also reacted to the behaviour of the house upon resumption of normal sittings after the recess, with campaigns for by-elections slowly approaching.

“Until these by-elections are done, I doubt if the houses will have any numbers. Different political parties have to go to the ground to make sure that they get these seats.” Maanzo stated.