Can this planet's most aged leader keep the title and woo a nation of youthful voters?
The planet's most aged head of state - nonagenarian Paul Biya - has assured the nation's voters "the future holds promise" as he aims for his 8th consecutive presidential term this weekend.
The nonagenarian has already been in power since 1982 - another seven-year mandate could see him rule for 50 years reaching almost 100.
Campaign Issues
He ignored widespread calls to leave office and drew backlash for making merely one rally, spending most of the political race on a week-and-a-half personal visit to the European continent.
A backlash over his use of an artificial intelligence created election advertisement, as his challengers courted voters on the ground, led to his hurried travel to the northern region after coming back.
Youth Voters and Unemployment
Consequently for the vast majority of the people, Biya has been the exclusive ruler they remember - more than 60% of Cameroon's 30 million residents are under the quarter century mark.
Young advocate Marie Flore Mboussi urgently wants "different faces" as she believes "prolonged leadership naturally results in a type of inertia".
"Following four decades, the citizens are exhausted," she says.
Young people's joblessness has become a particular discussion topic for most of the aspirants competing in the political race.
Almost forty percent of young citizens aged from 15 to 35 years are without work, with 23% of young graduates encountering difficulties in securing formal employment.
Rival Candidates
Apart from young people's job issues, the voting procedure has created dispute, particularly regarding the exclusion of an opposition leader from the election contest.
The disqualification, upheld by the highest court, was widely criticised as a strategy to prevent any strong challenge to the current leader.
Twelve candidates were approved to vie for the leadership position, featuring Issa Tchiroma Bakary and another former ally - both previous Biya associates from the northern region of the nation.
Voting Challenges
In Cameroon's English-speaking Northwest and Southwest areas, where a extended insurgency persists, an election boycott restriction has been established, halting business activities, movement and education.
Rebel groups who have established it have threatened to attack anyone who casts a ballot.
Since 2017, those attempting to establish a separate nation have been fighting state security.
The violence has so far caused the deaths of at no fewer than 6,000 lives and forced nearly five hundred thousand others from their homes.
Vote Outcome
Following the election, the legal body has 15 days to reveal the results.
The interior minister has earlier advised that none of the contenders is allowed to claim success beforehand.
"Candidates who will seek to declare outcomes of the political race or any self-proclaimed victory in violation of the laws of the country would have broken rules and must prepare to encounter penalties matching their crime."
