Paul Bean, young voters and his reaction to the AI ​​campaign video

The oldest head of state in the world -the 92 -year -old Paul Beh -promised the Cameroon electorate “The best to come” as he is looking for his eighth consecutive presidential term on Sunday.

The non -agenarist has already been in power since 1982 – another seven -year term can see him to rule for 50 years, while he will be almost 100.

He opposed widespread calls for retreat and was criticized for appearing for only one rally, spending most of the campaign period for a 10-day private trip to Europe.

Responding to his reading as a video generated by AI, as his opponents actively court the voters on Earth, they saw him rush north on his return home.

In the voices -rich city of Marua, on Tuesday, he turned to the crowds of his party’s supporters – more special, reaching women and young people, promising to prioritize their difficult position in their next term.

“I will keep my word,” he insisted, urging them to “give me your valuable support once again.”

But the political analyst Immanuel Vana tells the BBC that the main focus of the bust after it came to power is to remain in power, “often at the expense of the efforts to improve the living conditions of the country’s citizens.”

This is a view sounded by Dr. Tillarian Atia, another political analyzer who puts this thinking about survival to an abortion coup against Bih in 1984.

This means that for the greater part of the population, I am the only president they knew – more than 60% of 30 million people in Cameroon are under 25 years old.

Young political activist Marie Flore Mboussi is desperate for “New Blood” as she believes that “longevity in power inevitably leads to a type of laziness.”

“After 43 years, people are tired,” she says to the BBC.

The presidential election comes against the backdrop of increasing concerns about inflation, security challenges, poor social services, corruption and unemployment.

Youth unemployment is a special speaking point for most candidates who run the election.

Nearly 40% of young Cameroons between the ages of 15 and 35 are unemployed, with 23% of young university graduates facing official employment, according to the International Migration Organization (IOM).

“Young people are more likely to emigrate abroad because they say that they are not able to become someone inside the country,” says 26-year-old graduate Vanina Nzekui before the BBC.

“They say to themselves that all positions are occupied by the elderly,” she says, adding that this comes with the cost of using their skills to help develop the country.

But the 23 -year -old Aziseh MBI believes that age should not be a criterion for leadership.

In the case of Bi, says civil society activist, the president has succeeded in doing “significant things”, citing several youth initiatives.

Beyond the youth unemployment, the election process also caused disputes, especially with the exclusion of Maurice Kamto from the presidential race.

July Electoral Authority banned the 71-year-old opposition leader from governing Because a rival faction of the party, which approved it, presented someone else as a candidate.

Its exclusion, confirmed by the Constitutional Council, was widely criticized as a bet to prevent a strong challenge for President Bean.

After second in the 2018 presidential election, Kamto demanded victory and organized street protests.

“The exclusion of Prof. Kamto leads to the legitimacy of our democracy because we had to be fair enough to allow everyone to participate,” says Dr. Atia.

The van agrees that the absence of the country’s main opposition figure is “intensifying the notion that Cameroon cannot be held really fair elections.”

Twelve candidates were approved to compete for the highest work in the country, including Issa Ciroma Bakari and Belo Buba Maigari – both former Biji allies from the northern part of the country. They resigned from their ministerial positions in the government to take over their boss.

The legislator Cabral Libi, chairman of the Opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) Party, Joshua Osich and Patricia Tomayno Nami Neoy – the lone candidate for women – are also in the race.

At the launch of the election campaign, two graduates, including the famous corruption lawyer, Akere Muna, withdrew their candidates to support Maigari from the Nudp Party. This means that 10 people will already compete for the Presidency.

Before the poll – which will only be a one -time vote, as a person with the most votes will win – there were widespread calls for the opposition to present a candidate who would cause a beating who had never lost the election.

Tchiroma Bakary secured the Union’s support for change, a coalition of more than 50 political groups and civil society organizations, who presented it as a candidate for the consensus of the opposition.

But the initiative failed to win unanimity, with others refusing to gather behind it.

Kamto said he had conversations with some graduates, including the two northern figures that Tchiroma Bakary and Maigari, encouraging them to unite. As none of them seemed ready to withdraw, he called on the Cameroanians to vote for whom they prefer.

Dr. Atia believes that the failure to support a candidate under one coalition will cost the opposition of the urn.

Along the trail of the campaign, 76-year-old Bakari Charoma, a former government spokesman, pulls big crowds-with some analysts who position the leader of the front party of the National Party in Cameroon as the main Challenger.

On Sunday, thousands of supporters waited for hours in the rain to see him in the economic capital Duala.

He promised to reform the system from which he has been involved in two decades.

Despite support to support Tchiroma Bakary in the north, analysts say BIYA is likely to overcome other candidates for opposition.

“The president just needs a thin majority to win the election. I see him win, despite the efforts made by the opposition,” says Dr. Atia.

In the English -language regions of Cameroon in the northwest and southwest, where the long -standing separatist conflict continues, elected boycott lock, paralyzing business activities, movement and education, is required.

The separatists who imposed it threatened to target anyone who voted.

“We have seen people (who) were removed from their homes and were killed in cold blood, before, during and even after (previous) elections, when identified,” says Abang -Muga herself, adding that she will not risk throwing her ballet.

Since 2017, those who seek to create a detached state are struggling with government forces. They are angry with what they see as a marginalization of the Anglophone Community of Cameroon’s minority by the government dominated by Francophone.

The conflict has so far killed at least 6,000 people and has forced nearly half a million others of its homes, according to the UN.

According to civil society activist Abin Ayah, the likely exclusion of much of the English -language community could undermine the legitimacy of elections.

Although Biya says his government has made significant efforts to resolve the conflict, his opponents in the presidential race continue to criticize his processing of the situation.

After the vote on Sunday, the Constitutional Council has 15 days to announce the results.

The Interior Minister has already warned that no candidate is allowed to announce a win in advance.

Paul Atang NJI made the comments on the eve of the last day of the campaign.

“Those who will try to announce the results of the presidential election, or any self -proclaimed victory in violation of the laws of the republic, would cross the Red Line and should be ready to face the vengeful measures commensurate with their crime.”

Additional reporting from Michel Mvondo to BBC in Yaoundé.