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The world's oldest leader - nonagenarian Paul Biya - has assured Cameroon's electorate "the future holds promise" as he pursues his eighth straight presidential term on Sunday.

The elderly leader has remained in power for over four decades - an additional seven-year term could extend his reign for half a century until he will be almost a century old.

Election Issues

He resisted broad demands to leave office and faced criticism for attending just a single campaign event, devoting much of the political race on a ten-day private trip to the European continent.

Criticism over his use of an artificial intelligence created campaign video, as his rivals actively wooed supporters in person, led to his hurried travel north after coming back.

Youth Population and Joblessness

This indicates for the great bulk of the people, Biya is the only president they remember - over sixty percent of the nation's 30 million inhabitants are below the 25 years old.

Youthful campaigner Marie Flore Mboussi urgently wants "fresh leadership" as she thinks "longevity in power naturally results in a sort of laziness".

"With 43 years passed, the population are weary," she states.

Young people's joblessness has been a specific talking point for most of the candidates participating in the vote.

Nearly forty percent of young citizens between 15 to 35 years are unemployed, with 23% of college-educated youth encountering difficulties in obtaining formal employment.

Opposition Contenders

Apart from youth unemployment, the voting procedure has created debate, notably concerning the exclusion of an opposition leader from the leadership competition.

His exclusion, confirmed by the Constitutional Council, was broadly condemned as a tactic to block any strong challenge to the incumbent.

12 aspirants were authorized to contest for the presidency, featuring an ex-government official and Bello Bouba Maigari - both previous Biya colleagues from the north of the nation.

Voting Challenges

Within the nation's Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions, where a protracted insurgency continues, an poll avoidance restriction has been enforced, halting commercial operations, travel and schooling.

Insurgents who have established it have warned to attack individuals who casts a ballot.

Beginning in 2017, those working toward a independent territory have been battling state security.

The fighting has to date caused the deaths of at no fewer than six thousand people and compelled approximately five hundred thousand people from their residences.

Vote Outcome

After Sunday's vote, the Constitutional Council has fifteen days to reveal the results.

The government official has previously cautioned that no aspirant is allowed to claim success beforehand.

"Candidates who will seek to reveal findings of the political race or any self-proclaimed victory against the laws of the republic would have violated boundaries and need to be prepared to encounter consequences appropriate for their violation."