The East African Community (EAC) said on Friday it will dispatch election observer mission to Tanzania ahead of the nation's general elections slated for Oct. 28.

The EAC said in a statement that the mission will arrive in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam on Oct. 23.

The mission's mandate is to observe the overall electoral environment, pre-election activities, the polling day, the counting and tallying and announcement of results, said the statement.

It said the mission, to be led by former president of Burundi, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, will be deployed in various regions of the country including the Zanzibar archipelago.

The statement said the mission will prepare a report that will be submitted to the National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Tanzania, among others.

On Sept. 15, the government of Tanzania said it has allowed 15 foreign countries with embassies in the east African nation to bring in international election observers for the poll. 

Incumbent President John Magufuli of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi is seeking re-election, facing competition from 14 other presidential candidates. According to NEC, about 29.2 million voters have registered to elect the president, members of parliament and councilors.

Tanzania has a population of about 57 million.