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This world's most aged head of state - 92-year-old Paul Biya - has assured Cameroon's voters "the best is still to come" as he seeks his 8th consecutive presidential term on Sunday.

The 92-year-old has stayed in power since 1982 - another 7-year term could see him rule for half a century reaching almost 100.

Campaign Issues

He defied broad demands to leave office and has been criticised for attending just one rally, devoting much of the election season on a ten-day private trip to Europe.

Criticism over his reliance on an artificial intelligence created election advertisement, as his challengers courted constituents in person, prompted his quick return to the northern region after coming back.

Youth Voters and Joblessness

This indicates for the great bulk of the population, Biya remains the sole leader they remember - over sixty percent of the nation's 30 million people are below the quarter century mark.

Young campaigner Marie Flore Mboussi urgently wants "different faces" as she thinks "extended rule inevitably leads to a sort of complacency".

"Following four decades, the people are tired," she states.

Young people's joblessness has been a notable discussion topic for the majority of the candidates competing in the political race.

Almost 40% of young residents aged from 15-35 are unemployed, with twenty-three percent of recent graduates encountering difficulties in securing formal employment.

Opposition Contenders

In addition to young people's job issues, the voting procedure has generated controversy, notably concerning the removal of an opposition leader from the presidential race.

The disqualification, approved by the Constitutional Council, was broadly condemned as a strategy to block any strong challenge to the current leader.

12 contenders were approved to vie for the country's top job, including a former minister and Bello Bouba Maigari - each former Biya associates from the northern region of the nation.

Voting Challenges

Within the nation's English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, where a long-running separatist conflict persists, an poll avoidance restriction has been imposed, halting economic functions, travel and learning.

Insurgents who have established it have promised to attack people who casts a ballot.

Beginning in 2017, those attempting to establish a separate nation have been clashing with official military.

The violence has so far killed at minimum 6,000 lives and compelled approximately half a million residents from their homes.

Election Results

Once polling concludes, the legal body has fifteen days to declare the outcome.

The security chief has previously cautioned that no aspirant is permitted to declare victory beforehand.

"Those who will seek to reveal findings of the presidential election or any unofficial win announcement in violation of the rules of the republic would have crossed the red line and should be ready to face consequences matching their violation."