Will this planet's oldest president retain his title and attract a country of young electorate?
This world's most aged leader - nonagenarian Paul Biya - has assured the nation's voters "better days are ahead" as he pursues his eighth straight presidential term this weekend.
The elderly leader has stayed in office for over four decades - an additional 7-year mandate could extend his reign for half a century making him almost 100.
Election Issues
He ignored broad demands to leave office and has been criticised for attending just one public appearance, devoting much of the election season on a ten-day personal visit to the European continent.
Criticism concerning his dependence on an AI-generated political commercial, as his rivals actively wooed supporters directly, saw him rush to the northern region on his return home.
Young Voters and Joblessness
Consequently for the large portion of the people, Biya has been the exclusive ruler they have known - more than sixty percent of the nation's thirty million inhabitants are under the age of 25.
Youthful campaigner Marie Flore Mboussi is desperate for "different faces" as she thinks "longevity in power inevitably leads to a sort of complacency".
"After 43 years, the population are exhausted," she says.
Employment challenges for youth has become a specific issue of concern for nearly all the contenders running in the vote.
Almost 40% of youthful residents between 15 to 35 years are without work, with twenty-three percent of college-educated youth facing challenges in obtaining regular work.
Opposition Contenders
Apart from young people's job issues, the election system has generated controversy, notably concerning the disqualification of Maurice Kamto from the leadership competition.
The removal, confirmed by the highest court, was widely criticised as a ploy to block any significant opposition to the incumbent.
12 contenders were authorized to compete for the country's top job, including an ex-government official and Bello Bouba Maigari - the two previous Biya associates from the north of the country.
Voting Difficulties
Within the nation's English-speaking North-West and Southwest regions, where a long-running separatist conflict ongoing, an election boycott closure has been enforced, halting commercial operations, movement and schooling.
The separatists who have established it have threatened to target anyone who does vote.
Beginning in 2017, those attempting to establish a separate nation have been clashing with government forces.
The fighting has so far resulted in at minimum six thousand people and compelled almost 500,000 others from their homes.
Election Results
Once polling concludes, the Constitutional Council has 15 days to reveal the results.
The government official has previously cautioned that no candidate is permitted to declare victory beforehand.
"Those who will try to declare outcomes of the presidential election or any self-proclaimed victory against the regulations of the nation would have broken rules and must prepare to encounter consequences commensurate to their offense."
