President Robert Mugabe lashed out at church leaders who have been among the most outspoken critics of Zimbabwe's human rights record.
Addressing the funeral of Josiah Tungamirai, Mugabe recalled on Sunday that the Cabinet minister and retired air force commander had quit a Catholic seminary to join the fight against white rule in what was then Rhodesia.
Tungamirai's goal had been "to serve others, something which is sadly missing in some churches today," Mugabe said. "Zimbabwe is no home for traitors, for political stooges, for political crooks and cowards."
Mugabe's comments came the same week an Anglican bishop who is a strong supporter of the president was brought before an ecclesiastic court on charges ranging from besmirching the church to incitement to murder.
Harare Bishop Nolbert Kunonga has not been asked to answer the accusations and faces no criminal charges. The case was left in disarray when the Malawian Supreme Court judge presiding over the ecclesiastic court walked out declaring he had never seen anything like it.
Mugabe, who lead Zimbabwe to independence in 1980, has been widely criticized for his increasingly autocratic rule.
Children's welfare groups united on Sunday to demand an end to forced evictions under a slum clearance campaign that the UN estimates has destroyed the homes or livelihoods of 700,000 people.
The groups took out a full-page add in the independent Sunday Standard newspaper to announce the formation of an alliance called the Child Protection Working Group made up of local and international aid groups, faith-based organizations and UN agencies.
The alliance said the government's Operation Murambatsvina -- Drive Out Trash -- was exposing children to "exploitation, abuse and violence."
It demanded an immediate end to the evictions and measures to protect children already affected -- risking heavy fines, seizure of assets and jail terms for defying a government ban on non-governmental groups that involve themselves in "governance issues."
Thousands of children have missed schooling, had their examinations disrupted, or been separated from their families "as a result of continual population movements," the alliance said.
"In order to meet their own and families' basic needs, children, especially adolescent girls and boys, have resorted to risky activities which put them at risk of exploitation," it said, a reference to a reported increase in prostitution and substance abuse associated with the demolitions.
The alliance demanded unrestricted access to assess the impact on children across the country so it can prepare relief plans. UN Undersecretary-General Jan Egeland on Friday accused Zimbabwe of blocking an emergency appeal for millions of dollars to help victims of forced evictions by arguing over the text of the appeal.
Zimbabwe authorities claim the evictions have stopped and rebuilding has begun. But more than 600 people were last week removed from a farm near Harare by baton-wielding paramilitaries for unspecified reasons.
The alliance said it was committed to "collaborative engagement with the government" and pledged to "support any measures implemented by the government to ensure the best interests of children."
The government did not respond on Sunday to the group's demands.
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