“`html
Cameroon’s incumbent President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state at 92, has pledged “the best is still to come” as he seeks an unprecedented eighth consecutive presidential term in Sunday’s election.
Having held power since 1982, the nonagenarian’s potential seven-year mandate could extend his rule to an extraordinary 50 years, nearing his 100th birthday.
Despite widespread calls for his retirement, Mr. Biya has faced criticism for limited campaign appearances, notably spending much of the period on a 10-day private trip to Europe.
A backlash ensued over his reliance on an AI-generated campaign video, contrasting with his opponents’ active engagement with voters, prompting a swift return to address supporters in the north.
In Maroua, a city with a significant voter base, he addressed party loyalists, specifically targeting women and young people, promising to prioritize their concerns in his next term.
“I will keep my word,” he asserted, urging them to “give me your valuable support once again.”
However, political analyst Immanuel Wanah told the BBC that Mr. Biya’s primary focus has been maintaining power, “often at the expense of efforts to enhance the living conditions of the country’s citizens.”
Dr. Tilarius Atia, another political analyst, echoed this sentiment, attributing the president’s survivalist approach to an attempted coup against him in 1984.
For a significant portion of the population, Mr. Biya is the only president they have ever known, with over 60% of Cameroon’s 30 million people under the age of 25.
Young activist Marie Flore Mboussi expressed a desire for “new blood,” believing that “longevity in power inevitably leads to a kind of laziness.”
“After 43 years, the people are tired,” she told the BBC.
The presidential election occurs amidst growing concerns about inflation, security challenges, inadequate social services, corruption, and unemployment.
Youth unemployment has been a prominent issue for most candidates in the election.
Nearly 40% of young Cameroonians between 15 and 35 are unemployed, with 23% of young graduates facing challenges in securing formal employment, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“Young people are more inclined to emigrate abroad because they tell themselves that inside the country, they do not have the possibility of becoming somebody,” 26-year-old graduate Vanina Nzekui told the BBC.
“They tell themselves that all positions are occupied by older people,” she said, adding that this comes at the cost of using their skills to help develop the country.
However, Aziseh Mbi, 23, believes age should not be a determining factor for leadership.
In Mr. Biya’s case, the civil society activist said the president has accomplished “significant things,” citing several youth initiatives.
Beyond youth unemployment, the electoral process has been marred by controversy, particularly with the exclusion of Maurice Kamto from the presidential race.
In July, the electoral body barred the 71-year-old opposition leader from running because a rival faction of the party that had endorsed him presented someone else as a candidate.
His exclusion, upheld by the Constitutional Council, was widely criticized as a strategy to prevent any strong challenge to President Biya.
After finishing second in the 2018 presidential election, Mr. Kamto claimed victory and organized street protests.
“The exclusion of Prof Kamto waters down the legitimacy of our democracy because we should have been fair enough to allow for everybody to partake,” said Dr. Atia.
Mr. Wanah agreed that the absence of the country’s main opposition figure “reinforces the perception that truly fair elections cannot take place in Cameroon.”
Twelve candidates were approved to contest for the country’s top job, including Issa Tchiroma Bakary and Bello Bouba Maigari – both former Biya allies from the north of the country. They resigned from their ministerial positions in government to take on their boss.
Lawmaker Cabral Libii, chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) party Joshua Osih and Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya – the lone female candidate – are also in the race.
At the launch of the election campaign, two aspirants, including renowned anti-corruption lawyer Akere Muna, withdrew their candidacies to support Maigari of the NUDP party. This means 10 people will now compete for the presidency.
Prior to the poll – which will only be a single-round vote as the person with the most votes will win – there had been widespread calls for the opposition to present a single candidate to challenge Biya, who has never lost an election.
Tchiroma Bakary has secured the support of the Union for Change, a coalition of more than 50 political groups and civil society organisations who presented him as the opposition’s consensus candidate.
But the initiative has failed to gain unanimity, with others refusing to rally behind him.
Kamto said he had held talks with some aspirants, including the two northern figures Tchiroma Bakary and Maigari, encouraging them to unite. As neither seemed ready to step down, he urged Cameroonians to vote for whomever they preferred.
Dr. Atia reckons the failure to endorse one candidate under a single coalition will cost the opposition at the ballot box.
On the campaign trail, 76-year-old Tchiroma Bakary, a former government spokesperson, has been pulling big crowds – with some analysts positioning the Cameroon National Salvation Front party leader as Biya’s main challenger.
On Sunday, thousands of supporters waited for hours in the rain to see him in the economic capital Douala.
He has promised to reform the system of which he was a part for two decades.
Despite Tchiroma Bakary’s support base in the north, analysts say Biya is likely to overpower him and the other opposition candidates.
“President Biya just needs a slim majority to win the election, and I see him winning despite the efforts being made by the opposition,” says Dr. Atia.
In Cameroon’s English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, where a long-running separatist conflict continues, an election boycott lockdown has been imposed, paralysing business activities, movement and education.
The separatists who have imposed it have threatened to target anyone who does vote.
“We have seen people [who] have been pulled out of their homes and slaughtered in cold blood, before, during, and even well after [previous] elections when they are identified,” Samah Abang-Mugwa, a resident of one of the Anglophone regions, told the BBC – adding that he will not risk casting his ballot.
Since 2017, those seeking to create a breakaway state have been fighting government forces. They are angered by what they see as the marginalisation of Cameroon’s minority Anglophone community by the Francophone-dominated government.
The conflict has so far killed at least 6,000 people and forced nearly half a million others from their homes, according to the UN.
According to civil society activist Abine Ayah, the likely exclusion of much of the English-speaking community could undermine the legitimacy of the election.
Although Biya says his government has made significant efforts to resolve the conflict, his opponents in the presidential race continue to criticise his handling of the situation.
After Sunday’s vote, the Constitutional Council has 15 days to announce the results.
The interior minister has already warned that no candidate is allowed to declare victory beforehand.
Paul Atanga Nji made the comments on the eve of the last day of campaigning.
“Those who will attempt to announce results of the presidential election or any self-proclaimed victory in violation of the laws of the republic would have crossed the red line and should be ready to face the retaliatory measures commensurate to their crime.”
Additional reporting by the BBC’s Michel Mvondo in Yaoundé.
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
El-Fasher has been surrounded by the RSF for 17 months, as residents face hunger and starvation.
Esther Njoki says her family has been denied justice for 13 years after her aunt Agnes Wanjiru’s body was found in a septic tank.
The West African nation’s foreign minister asks if the decision led to the US suspending issuing visas.
Counting the cost of deadly Gen Z protests in Madagascar where most young people are unemployed.
A Gen Z leader in Madagascar says he has put his UK university scholarship on hold to help organise the protests.
“`