The Kiandutu National Youth Service Program has been suspended indefinitely for unknown reasons rendering over 3,000 residents of Thika jobless.
According to one of the women supervising a section of the works in Kianjau slums who sought anonymity, the officials overseeing the whole program called onto the supervisors to announce to their groups that there will be no more work starting Saturday.
She said that there were no reasons raised for the directive adding that on inquiry they were told not to demonstrate as they will be sacked.
One of the workers from Kiganjo, Ms Miriam Njamiu, in an interview on Friday evening told this writer that she questioned the directive but she was threatened that she will lose her job without pay. She said she was told that the management has been observing her moves and she is a threat to the operations since she was involved in a past strike.
Njamiu lamented that they have been harassed since they joined by the people overseeing their work. She said sometimes they received half pay as supervisors take the other money.
The directive comes three weeks after they demonstrated against forceful eviction from the area by some officials who were then arrested and later reinstated.
An attempt to speak to the NYS regional director Mr Zephania Navangi who is alleged to have issued the directive on phone bore no fruits as he didn't pick the calls.
Operations are on a stand still at the moment in the area as the Thika town MP Alice Ng'ang'a, who is the patron of the program, is said to be out of the country and expected back on Monday.