🔗 Share this article Can this world's most aged president retain the position and woo a country of youthful voters? This planet's oldest head of state - 92-year-old Paul Biya - has promised Cameroon's voters "better days are ahead" as he seeks his eighth consecutive presidential term this weekend. The 92-year-old has stayed in power for over four decades - an additional 7-year term could extend his reign for half a century making him almost 100. Campaign Issues He resisted widespread calls to leave office and has been criticised for making merely one rally, spending most of the campaign period on a week-and-a-half unofficial journey to Europe. Negative reaction regarding his dependence on an computer-generated campaign video, as his challengers actively wooed voters directly, saw him rush north on his return home. Youth Voters and Joblessness It means that for the large portion of the population, Biya is the only president they experienced - over 60% of Cameroon's 30 million people are below the quarter century mark. Young advocate Marie Flore Mboussi strongly desires "new blood" as she maintains "prolonged leadership typically causes a sort of inertia". "With 43 years passed, the population are exhausted," she states. Young people's joblessness remains a notable discussion topic for nearly all the contenders participating in the vote. Approximately 40% of youthful citizens between 15-35 are jobless, with twenty-three percent of recent graduates experiencing problems in securing formal employment. Rival Candidates In addition to young people's job issues, the election system has also stirred controversy, notably concerning the exclusion of an opposition leader from the election contest. His exclusion, approved by the legal authority, was widely criticised as a strategy to prevent any strong challenge to the incumbent. Twelve contenders were cleared to contest for the country's top job, featuring a former minister and Bello Bouba Maigari - both previous Biya associates from the northern region of the country. Voting Difficulties In Cameroon's Anglophone Northwest and South-West regions, where a protracted insurgency persists, an poll avoidance restriction has been enforced, paralysing commercial operations, transport and learning. Insurgents who have established it have warned to harm anyone who participates. Beginning in 2017, those working toward a separate nation have been fighting government forces. The violence has until now caused the deaths of at no fewer than 6k lives and compelled approximately 500,000 people from their homes. Vote Outcome After Sunday's vote, the highest court has fifteen days to announce the outcome. The government official has already warned that no aspirant is allowed to claim success in advance. "Those who will seek to reveal findings of the leadership vote or any unofficial win announcement contrary to the laws of the nation would have crossed the red line and must prepare to receive consequences commensurate to their offense."