Can the planet's oldest president keep the position and woo a nation of young voters?
The planet's oldest head of state - nonagenarian Paul Biya - has pledged the nation's electorate "the future holds promise" as he pursues his eighth consecutive term in office this weekend.
The nonagenarian has stayed in office since 1982 - another seven-year term could extend his reign for half a century making him almost 100.
Campaign Issues
He defied widespread calls to step down and drew backlash for attending just a single campaign event, devoting much of the campaign period on a week-and-a-half unofficial journey to Europe.
Criticism over his use of an computer-generated political commercial, as his challengers courted supporters on the ground, saw him rush to the northern region upon his arrival.
Young Voters and Unemployment
Consequently for the great bulk of the citizenry, Biya remains the sole leader they experienced - more than sixty percent of Cameroon's 30 million inhabitants are below the quarter century mark.
Youthful political activist Marie Flore Mboussi urgently wants "different faces" as she thinks "prolonged leadership naturally results in a type of inertia".
"After 43 years, the population are exhausted," she states.
Young people's joblessness has become a notable talking point for most of the aspirants participating in the election.
Nearly 40% of youthful citizens aged from 15 and 35 are unemployed, with twenty-three percent of young graduates facing challenges in finding regular work.
Rival Candidates
In addition to youth unemployment, the election system has generated debate, especially with the exclusion of an opposition leader from the presidential race.
His exclusion, confirmed by the Constitutional Council, was generally denounced as a ploy to prevent any serious competition to the incumbent.
A dozen aspirants were authorized to compete for the presidency, including a former minister and Bello Bouba Maigari - the two previous Biya colleagues from the northern region of the nation.
Election Challenges
In Cameroon's Anglophone North-West and South-West areas, where a extended rebellion continues, an election boycott restriction has been imposed, stopping commercial operations, travel and schooling.
The separatists who have enforced it have promised to harm individuals who does vote.
Since 2017, those attempting to establish a breakaway state have been fighting official military.
The violence has until now caused the deaths of at no fewer than six thousand lives and compelled approximately 500,000 residents from their homes.
Election Results
After Sunday's vote, the legal body has fifteen days to declare the results.
The interior minister has previously cautioned that none of the contenders is permitted to declare victory in advance.
"Those who will try to declare outcomes of the leadership vote or any personal declaration of success against the regulations of the nation would have crossed the red line and should be ready to encounter penalties matching their crime."
