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This planet's oldest head of state - 92-year-old Paul Biya - has pledged Cameroon's voters "the best is still to come" as he aims for his eighth straight presidential term this weekend.

The 92-year-old has already been in office for over four decades - an additional 7-year mandate could keep him in power for 50 years making him almost a century old.

Campaign Controversies

He defied numerous appeals to leave office and has been criticised for only showing up for a single campaign event, devoting much of the election season on a week-and-a-half personal visit to Europe.

A backlash over his dependence on an AI-generated political commercial, as his challengers courted voters directly, led to his hurried travel north on his return home.

Youth Voters and Unemployment

It means that for the great bulk of the population, Biya has been the exclusive ruler they remember - more than sixty percent of Cameroon's thirty million residents are younger than the age of 25.

Young political activist Marie Flore Mboussi is desperate for "new blood" as she thinks "longevity in power typically causes a kind of complacency".

"Following four decades, the population are weary," she states.

Young people's joblessness has been a notable issue of concern for nearly all the contenders competing in the political race.

Approximately 40% of young residents aged from 15 and 35 are jobless, with twenty-three percent of recent graduates experiencing problems in obtaining official jobs.

Opposition Candidates

In addition to young people's job issues, the election system has generated debate, notably concerning the exclusion of a political rival from the leadership competition.

The disqualification, approved by the Constitutional Council, was broadly condemned as a ploy to stop any serious competition to President Biya.

Twelve candidates were approved to vie for the country's top job, featuring a former minister and another former ally - both former Biya associates from the north of the nation.

Voting Difficulties

Within the nation's Anglophone North-West and Southwest territories, where a long-running rebellion persists, an voting prohibition restriction has been enforced, paralysing commercial operations, movement and education.

Rebel groups who have imposed it have threatened to target anyone who does vote.

Beginning in 2017, those attempting to establish a independent territory have been battling government forces.

The conflict has so far killed at least 6k lives and compelled nearly half a million others from their residences.

Vote Outcome

After Sunday's vote, the highest court has two weeks to reveal the outcome.

The interior minister has previously cautioned that no candidate is permitted to claim success in advance.

"Those who will try to announce results of the leadership vote or any unofficial win announcement against the rules of the republic would have crossed the red line and must prepare to receive penalties matching their crime."