Tanzania's electoral commission has set 28 October as the date for general elections, the Citizen newspaper reports.

The commission's chairman Justice Semistocles Kaijage has told a media briefing that election campaigns will start on 26 August and end a day before the election.

Presidential and parliamentary candidates will submit their names to the commission on 25 August, he said.

President John Magufuli, 60, will seek re-election for a five-year term.

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party has been in power since 1964 when mainland Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania.