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The inauguration was held Saturday morning at the Uhuru Stadium, which was packed to the rafters mainly with supporters of the victorious revolutionary party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) which ushered independence to the Tanzanian people when Mwalimu Julius Nyerere swept into power in 1962.

President Kikwete cruised to a comfortable win that handed him a second and final five-year term as leader of East Africa’s second largest economy after Kenya. He won 61 percent of the vote and with it a mandate to continue his reforms that are grounded on a raft of policies of social cohesion and economic growth.

President Mugabe arrived to thunderous applause which eclipsed all other welcomes given to other dignitaries who graced the occasion, in a country in which he has endeared himself to the masses.

In his acceptance speech, President Kikwete promised to spell out the intimate details of his second-term policies at the opening of Parliament soon but emphasised the urgent need for elections to be put in the past and called for a spirit of Umoja-Oneness, as he urged that the divisive spirit that elections tend to foster be buried as Tanzania moves forward as one united and peaceful nation.

President Mugabe joined several dignitaries including Presidents Jacob Zuma (South Africa), Mwai Kibaki (Kenya), Rupiah Banda (Zambia) and Joseph Kabila (the Democratic Republic of Congo) to the grand occasion. He was welcomed back home at the Harare International Airport by Vice-President Mujuru, service chiefs and senior Government officials.