Will the planet's oldest leader keep his title and attract a nation of youthful voters?
The world's oldest leader - 92-year-old Paul Biya - has pledged Cameroon's voters "the best is still to come" as he pursues his eighth straight presidential term this weekend.
The elderly leader has remained in power since 1982 - an additional 7-year mandate could see him rule for 50 years making him almost a century old.
Campaign Issues
He ignored broad demands to resign and drew backlash for only showing up for a single campaign event, using the majority of the campaign period on a 10-day unofficial journey to the European continent.
A backlash regarding his dependence on an artificial intelligence created election advertisement, as his opponents courted voters in person, saw him rush to the northern region after coming back.
Young Population and Joblessness
Consequently for the great bulk of the citizenry, Biya is the only president they have known - over 60% of Cameroon's 30 million inhabitants are younger than the quarter century mark.
Young campaigner Marie Flore Mboussi urgently wants "different faces" as she thinks "longevity in power naturally results in a type of complacency".
"Following four decades, the citizens are tired," she says.
Employment challenges for youth has become a notable talking point for the majority of the candidates competing in the vote.
Approximately forty percent of young Cameroonians between 15-35 are jobless, with twenty-three percent of recent graduates facing challenges in obtaining formal employment.
Opposition Contenders
Apart from youth unemployment, the electoral process has generated dispute, especially with the removal of an opposition leader from the leadership competition.
The disqualification, upheld by the highest court, was generally denounced as a strategy to block any serious competition to the current leader.
A dozen candidates were cleared to compete for the leadership position, comprising Issa Tchiroma Bakary and a previous supporter - each previous Biya colleagues from the northern region of the country.
Voting Difficulties
In Cameroon's English-speaking Northwest and South-West regions, where a extended insurgency persists, an voting prohibition restriction has been imposed, stopping economic functions, travel and learning.
The separatists who have enforced it have promised to harm people who does vote.
Beginning in 2017, those seeking to create a breakaway state have been battling state security.
The violence has so far resulted in at no fewer than 6k individuals and forced approximately 500,000 others from their homes.
Vote Outcome
After Sunday's vote, the Constitutional Council has fifteen days to declare the findings.
The security chief has previously cautioned that no candidate is allowed to announce winning in advance.
"Those who will seek to declare outcomes of the political race or any unofficial win announcement in violation of the rules of the republic would have crossed the red line and need to be prepared to face consequences appropriate for their violation."
