Will the world's most aged leader retain his title and attract a nation of young voters?

This planet's oldest head of state - nonagenarian Paul Biya - has assured Cameroon's electorate "better days are ahead" as he pursues his 8th straight term in office on Sunday.

The elderly leader has stayed in office since 1982 - another 7-year term could extend his reign for 50 years until he will be almost a century old.

Campaign Issues

He resisted broad demands to resign and faced criticism for only showing up for one rally, devoting much of the campaign period on a ten-day private trip to the European continent.

Negative reaction regarding his dependence on an artificial intelligence created election advertisement, as his opponents sought voters in person, prompted his quick return to the northern region upon his arrival.

Youth Voters and Unemployment

It means that for the great bulk of the population, Biya has been the exclusive ruler they have known - more than sixty percent of the nation's 30 million residents are under the quarter century mark.

Young campaigner Marie Flore Mboussi strongly desires "different faces" as she maintains "prolonged leadership inevitably leads to a kind of complacency".

"After 43 years, the population are tired," she says.

Youth unemployment has been a specific discussion topic for most of the candidates running in the political race.

Approximately forty percent of young Cameroonians aged from 15 and 35 are jobless, with twenty-three percent of college-educated youth encountering difficulties in finding official jobs.

Opposition Contenders

In addition to young people's job issues, the voting procedure has generated debate, especially with the disqualification of an opposition leader from the presidential race.

His exclusion, confirmed by the Constitutional Council, was widely criticised as a strategy to block any significant opposition to the incumbent.

A dozen candidates were authorized to compete for the country's top job, comprising a former minister and a previous supporter - each previous Biya associates from the north of the nation.

Voting Challenges

In Cameroon's Anglophone Northwest and South-West territories, where a extended separatist conflict persists, an poll avoidance restriction has been imposed, stopping economic functions, movement and learning.

The separatists who have established it have promised to attack individuals who does vote.

Since 2017, those attempting to establish a breakaway state have been battling official military.

The violence has until now caused the deaths of at least 6k lives and forced approximately five hundred thousand others from their houses.

Election Results

After Sunday's vote, the Constitutional Council has two weeks to declare the results.

The security chief has previously cautioned that no aspirant is allowed to announce winning prior to official results.

"Candidates who will seek to reveal findings of the leadership vote or any personal declaration of success in violation of the laws of the republic would have violated boundaries and must prepare to face retaliatory measures matching their crime."