Six and half million Cameroonians have been cleared to vote in presidential elections. Eight candidates are running against Africa's longest serving president Paul Biya in elections that could lock out voters from the country's English-speaking regions.  CGTN's Saddique Shaban takes a look at what is on Sunday's ballot.

Millions of Cameroonians have waited seven years for this moment. Supporters of the ruling People's Democratic Movement in the francophone regions across the country say they are waiting for the coronation of their candidate and incumbent, Paul Biya, despite security concerns in the Anglophone region.  

ISSA TCHIROMA BAKARY CAMEROONIAN MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS "The CPD and the ruling party is the only party which has staged many political rallies in the two regions. The Minister, as he said, has taken all the measures to enable any candidate to go where they wanted to go, to subsidies, to inform, to discuss with people, in order to win their mind."

But the opposition, regrouping late after a disjointed start to the process, have had to scale down their campaigns in the English-speaking areas.  

JOSHUA OSIH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FRONT "They are refusing the voters of the northwest and southwest regions to vote in that they have decided to concentrate all the polling stations in one locality and they want the voters to move to that locality. They are saying that is for security of the polling officers whereas the state is supposed to guarantee the security of the voters." 

PAUL ATANGA NJI CAMEROONIAN MINISTER OF INTERIOR "All the security services are on alert, in case there are any disturbances, then we can master the situation. I can tell you that the elections will be conducted in a very serene atmosphere."  

In mostly francophone areas, voter registers were published in some polling stations for voters to verify their details. Each voter will need an elector's card to cast their ballot. All the nine presidential candidates will have their names and faces printed on the ballot papers for ease of identification.  

SADDIQUE SHABAN YAOUNDE, CAMEROON "The Cameroon elections body says it has dispatched all the polling materials to most of the polling stations across the country and that it's ready for the polls on Sunday. This is the incumbent Paul Biya's polling station here in Bastos where the president will cast his ballot in this box, on Sunday, seeking to extend his 36 year-old rule for another seven years in office."  

EUGENE N. NFORNGWA CAMEROONIAN JOURNALIST "He has won every presidential election in this country since the 1990s. And has the state machinery to his advantage, has the advantage of incumbency, has far more resources than other candidates. But we could also see a surprise, where the opposition which is now coming together springs us a surprise."  

Unlike in the past, Cameroon is confronted by myriads of challenges that have remained unsolved for the last two decades. The Anglophone crisis and struggling economy are just some of the underlying choices on the ballot.  

EUGENE N. NFORNGWA CAMEROONIAN JOURNALIST "Cameroon is facing a crisis in the north of the country. But also the issues of the poverty, infrastructure, those issues that resonate among the common Cameroonians remain very big issues in this election."  

As Cameroonians make another political decision, they will be hoping for a better future, a new dawn for thousands of people trapped in conflict. But few people believe the country's dark period will be solved by the presidential elections. SADDIQUE SHABAN, CGTN, YAOUNDE, CAMEROON.