Harare, Zimbabwe (CNN) President Robert Mugabe has spoken out against the pastor responsible for kickstarting Zimbabwe's #ThisFlag protest movement. Mugabe criticized Pastor Evan Mawarire accusing him of being "foreign sponsored," and called on him to leave the country. The 92-year-old was speaking at a gathering of mourners at the funeral of Charles Utete, a senior government official who died Friday. He said the protests were not part of Zimbabwean culture. "That way of living is not in our country, it's not part of us, let them go to those who are sponsoring them," Mugabe said. "You can't urge people to adopt...violent demonstrations as a way of solving grievances," he added.Evan Mawarire called for change draped in the national flagZimbabweans stayed home to protest country's economic woes
"The government has completely failed to look after its citizenry, and failed to listen to demands of its citizenry," _ told a local radio station during the #ZimShutdown2016 protests.