Parliament sets May 28 Prayer Breakfast date amid legal dispute on expenditure disclosure

Parliament of Kenya has confirmed that the 23rd Annual National Prayer Breakfast will be held next Thursday, May 28, at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, even as a constitutional petition challenging the use of public funds for the event continues to be heard in court.

The annual interdenominational gathering is set to begin at 7am and will bring together national leaders, diplomats, clergy, and business representatives, with President William Ruto expected to attend alongside other invited guests.

According to Parliament, the main breakfast will be preceded by a Women Leaders’ Convention and Convocation scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, forming part of the programme ahead of the main event. The gathering has remained a key fixture in the parliamentary calendar, focusing on prayer, reflection, leadership, and national unity.

“Parliament of Kenya is scheduled to host the 23rd Annual National Prayer Breakfast next week, Thursday, May 28, 2026,” the statement read.

The announcement comes at a time when a legal challenge is ongoing in the High Court over the use and disclosure of public funds for the annual event.

The petition has been filed by Nairobi-based lawyer Lempaa Suyianka, who is seeking court orders to compel disclosure of how much public money was spent on the 2025 edition and to stop the use of taxpayer funds for the 2026 event.

The case, filed at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court, argues that the refusal to release expenditure details goes against constitutional requirements on transparency, accountability, and access to information.

Court documents show that Suyianka first made a Freedom of Information request on March 13, 2025, addressed to the Clerk of the National Assembly, seeking details on spending linked to the 2025 prayer breakfast. After the request was declined, he followed up with letters in June 2025 to both the Clerk of the National Assembly and the Clerk of the Senate.

The matter later attracted the attention of the Commission on Administrative Justice, which in July 2025 urged parliamentary offices to release the requested information.

Despite this, Suyianka says the Parliamentary Service Commission only indicated that the event was included in annual expenditure estimates tabled before Parliament under Article 221 of the Constitution, without giving specific figures on actual spending.

In his petition, he argues that the continued refusal to release financial records violates Article 35 on access to information, Article 10 on national values and governance, and Article 201 on prudent use of public resources. He further argues that Parliament’s role in organising the prayer breakfast raises concerns about separation of powers and the use of public funds for such events.

He also accuses the Commission on Administrative Justice of failing to fully enforce its mandate by not compelling disclosure of the requested records.

Suyianka is seeking declarations that the respondents violated the Constitution, orders compelling disclosure of the 2025 expenditure, and injunctions stopping the use of public funds for the 2026 National Prayer Breakfast.

The High Court is expected to schedule the matter for hearing in the coming weeks.

The National Prayer Breakfast was institutionalised as an annual parliamentary event in June 2023 when National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula announced that it would henceforth be held every last Thursday of May.

“As we move into the future, the National Prayer Breakfast will be held on the last Thursday of May and will be a key parliamentary event,” Wetang’ula said during the 2023 edition in Nairobi.

Traditionally, the event brings together political leaders, diplomats, religious leaders, and members of the business community for prayers and reflections on national unity, leadership, and governance.