A legal challenge has been filed in the High Court over the use of public money for the 2025 National Prayer Breakfast and the plans to fund the 2026 event.
The case was brought by Nairobi lawyer Lempaa Suyianka, who wants Parliament and several government offices to explain how much money was spent on the 2025 event and to stop the use of public funds for the next one.
Suyianka filed a constitutional petition at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division in Nairobi. He named the Parliamentary Service Commission, the National Assembly, the Senate, the Attorney General, and the Commission on Administrative Justice as respondents.
City lawyer Lempaa Suyianka who has brought forward a case challenging source of funds during National Assembly prayer breakfast. Photo Courtesy: File.
He argues that these institutions failed to respect his right to access information as provided under Article 35 of the Constitution.
Court documents show that the lawyer first made a formal request for information on March 13, 2025. He wrote to the Clerk of the National Assembly asking for a detailed breakdown of the costs of the 2025 National Prayer Breakfast. His request was declined. In June 2025, he sent follow-up letters to both the Clerk of the National Assembly and the Clerk of the Senate, but he says he did not receive a clear or helpful response.
In July 2025, the Commission on Administrative Justice also wrote to the two clerks and asked them to release the information.
Despite this step, Suyianka says he was later advised to direct his request to the Parliamentary Service Commission.
In October 2025, the Commission told him that the National Prayer Breakfast was included in its annual budget estimates presented to Parliament, but it did not reveal the exact amount of money spent on the 2025 event.
The lawyer argues that the continued refusal to give him the information violates Articles 35(1)(a) and 35(3) of the Constitution.
He says this also goes against national values such as transparency and accountability under Article 10. He further claims that Parliament’s role in organizing the prayer breakfast breaks the principle of separation of powers and that using public funds for the event amounts to careless spending, which goes against Article 201 of the Constitution.
MPs Kimani Ichungwah, Junet Mohamed and Senator Aaron Cheruiyot during the past national prayer breakfast. Photo Courtesy: Nairobi Leo
Suyianka has also accused the Commission on Administrative Justice of failing to carry out its duty to force the release of the information. In his petition, he is asking the court to declare that the respondents breached the Constitution, to order them to disclose the full expenditure details, and to block the use of public money for the 2026 National Prayer Breakfast.
However, High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye declined to issue temporary orders. The judge directed that the matter should instead go to a full hearing where all sides will be allowed to present their arguments.