Thirteen presidents and one king all from Africa will witness the swear-in by the next Tanzanian president on Wednesday, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

The Tanzanian Foreign Ministry, whose incumbent portfolio chief is most likely the candidate to be announced as the president- elect, said that these heads of state would come from Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The king will come from Lesotho while the Namibian prime minister and Swazi deputy prime minister are among the dozens of other dignitaries that include foreign ministers and special envoys from such institutions as the African Union, the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community and the World Bank.

China, the United States, Egypt, Japan and South Korea are sending their special well-wishers to Tanzania for Wednesday's swear-in ceremony.

Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has been returned as the leader of the presidential polls, with 80.23 percent of the total valid votes cast last Wednesday to his credit.

His nearest rival was Ibrahim Haruna Lipumba representing the country's largest opposition party of Civic United Front with 11. 61 percent of the total votes under his tally.

Tanzania last Wednesday held its third multiparty general elections with 72.28 percent of the 16,399,169 registered voters having turned out to cast their ballots.

Source: Xinhua