Will this world's most aged president keep his title and woo a nation of youthful electorate?
The planet's oldest leader - nonagenarian Paul Biya - has assured the nation's voters "the best is still to come" as he pursues his 8th straight presidential term on Sunday.
The 92-year-old has stayed in power for over four decades - an additional seven-year mandate could see him rule for half a century making him almost 100.
Campaign Controversies
He ignored broad demands to resign and has been criticised for only showing up for a single campaign event, spending most of the election season on a ten-day personal visit to Europe.
A backlash over his reliance on an artificial intelligence created political commercial, as his opponents sought voters on the ground, led to his hurried travel north after coming back.
Young Voters and Unemployment
Consequently for the vast majority of the population, Biya is the only president they remember - over sixty percent of the nation's thirty million residents are younger than the quarter century mark.
Young campaigner Marie Flore Mboussi is desperate for "new blood" as she maintains "prolonged leadership naturally results in a sort of inertia".
"After 43 years, the citizens are tired," she declares.
Young people's joblessness has become a specific talking point for the majority of the candidates competing in the vote.
Nearly 40% of youthful citizens aged from 15-35 are jobless, with 23% of young graduates facing challenges in securing formal employment.
Rival Contenders
Apart from young people's job issues, the election system has generated debate, notably concerning the exclusion of an opposition leader from the leadership competition.
His exclusion, upheld by the Constitutional Council, was generally denounced as a ploy to stop any strong challenge to the current leader.
12 aspirants were approved to vie for the presidency, comprising Issa Tchiroma Bakary and Bello Bouba Maigari - the two former Biya colleagues from the northern region of the nation.
Election Challenges
In Cameroon's Anglophone North-West and Southwest regions, where a long-running insurgency persists, an poll avoidance restriction has been enforced, halting economic functions, transport and education.
The separatists who have imposed it have threatened to target people who casts a ballot.
Since 2017, those attempting to establish a separate nation have been clashing with official military.
The violence has to date resulted in at minimum 6,000 individuals and caused approximately half a million residents from their homes.
Election Results
Once polling concludes, the legal body has two weeks to declare the findings.
The interior minister has already warned that no candidate is allowed to claim success beforehand.
"Individuals who will attempt to reveal findings of the presidential election or any self-proclaimed victory in violation of the regulations of the nation would have broken rules and must prepare to receive consequences appropriate for their violation."
