At least 400 Meru Youth Service employees enrolled by Governor Kiraitu Murungi in April last year have downed tools in protest over delayed salaries.
The youth’s representatives accused the county government of promising good salaries and employment after their training but they have been left to suffer.
They said they love Governor Kiraitu's initiative but he does not walk the talk concerning the pledges he made.
The employees said they underwent paramilitary training and were later deployed to the revenue collection centres. They included street parkings and markets where revenue is generated.
They were later moved to become Community Health Volunteers after being removed from revenue collection centres and no coin to their pockets since December last year.
“We were promised a salary of Sh400 per day which amounts to Sh12,000 per month but we are only given Sh4,800 per month. Where does the other money go to? We are appealing for legal redress to enable us to petition the county against recruiting another bunch of MYS before we are employed,” Dennis Munene said.
The training is part of the Meru Youth Service Programme implemented by the county government of Meru after being launched in April 2018.
The 400 employees are part of the 1,000 young people drawn from administrative wards in the county recruited to receive training in agriculture, health services and urban regeneration.
The remaining 600 are undertaking different courses at the Meru National Polytechnic.
