Can the world's oldest president keep his position and attract a nation of young voters?
The world's oldest leader - 92-year-old Paul Biya - has assured Cameroon's voters "better days are ahead" as he aims for his 8th consecutive presidential term this weekend.
The nonagenarian has already been in power for over four decades - an additional 7-year term could keep him in power for 50 years reaching almost 100.
Election Issues
He resisted broad demands to resign and faced criticism for attending just one rally, devoting much of the campaign period on a week-and-a-half unofficial journey to Europe.
A backlash regarding his use of an AI-generated political commercial, as his challengers actively wooed voters on the ground, prompted his quick return to the northern region upon his arrival.
Young Population and Unemployment
It means that for the large portion of the population, Biya is the only president they remember - more than 60% of the nation's thirty million residents are younger than the quarter century mark.
Youthful political activist Marie Flore Mboussi is desperate for "different faces" as she thinks "prolonged leadership naturally results in a kind of laziness".
"Following four decades, the population are weary," she declares.
Young people's joblessness remains a specific discussion topic for nearly all the contenders running in the political race.
Nearly forty percent of young Cameroonians between 15 and 35 are without work, with 23% of college-educated youth experiencing problems in finding formal employment.
Opposition Contenders
Apart from youth unemployment, the election system has created controversy, particularly regarding the disqualification of an opposition leader from the election contest.
The disqualification, upheld by the Constitutional Council, was widely criticised as a strategy to stop any strong challenge to the incumbent.
12 candidates were approved to contest for the presidency, comprising a former minister and another former ally - the two ex- Biya allies from the north of the country.
Election Challenges
Within the nation's Anglophone Northwest and Southwest areas, where a extended separatist conflict continues, an voting prohibition closure has been enforced, stopping business activities, travel and schooling.
The separatists who have enforced it have threatened to harm anyone who does vote.
Since 2017, those attempting to establish a independent territory have been fighting government forces.
The conflict has until now caused the deaths of at no fewer than 6,000 people and forced almost half a million people from their homes.
Election Results
After Sunday's vote, the legal body has two weeks to declare the results.
The government official has already warned that no candidate is authorized to claim success prior to official results.
"Those who will attempt to declare outcomes of the presidential election or any self-proclaimed victory contrary to the rules of the nation would have crossed the red line and need to be prepared to face consequences matching their offense."
