THE Miss East Africa 2009 whirlwind is expected to whip into Dar es Salaam this week, with beauties from across the region gathering to kick off the official countdown to this month's grand finale.

Twenty-eight girls from 14 countries are expected to battle it out for the crown in the event set for December 18 at Mlimani City in Dar es Salaam, a sign it is going to be a tough contest this year.

Aware of the stiff competition, prestige and the huge role Miss East Africa plays in the region, Tanzania has assembled tested and talented beauty queens.

Miss East Africa beauty pageant organising committee chairman, Rena Callist, said yesterday that names of Tanzania's representatives to the event will be revealed on Wednesday.

Callist, who doubles as Rena Events Limited director, promised an electrifying and competitive event.

“This time around, judges will have a tricky task to chose the winner because all the beauties lined up for the finale are very beautiful,” he said.

Organised by Rena Events Limited, the pageant will involve beauty queens from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Mauritius and hosts Tanzania.

The lucky winner of this year's event will get a Range Rover Vogue Sport car worth 165,000 US dollars (about 200m/-).

The event has been jointly sponsored by EATV, Kunduchi Beach Hotel & Resort, Kings & Queens Worldwide, CMC Automobiles Limited and AKO Catering Services Ltd.

It will be the fourth time Rena Events will be organizing the event. Last year, Claudia Niyonzima, a Burundi belle scooped the 2008 Miss East Africa crown.

The born-again law student from Light University, Bujumbura beat contestants from ten East Africa countries.