“I am the people’s candidate and I don’t see anyone who can go against the will of the people,” Obiang said at a rally in Malabo (capital) last week in an AFP report.

He is running against four other candidates.

The polling stations opened on Sunday at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) and close at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT).

Votes cast will be centralized in the districts on Monday and later in the provinces and at national level. The first estimates are expected on December 3 and then full results will be announced on December 7.

But the fairness of the vote will be hard to judge since journalists have been unable to get visas, and African observers must be escorted by government employees and must not make “disparaging remarks,” according to a presidential decree.

Equatorial Guinea is the third largest producer of oil in sub-Saharan Africa, but some 60 percent of its 600,000 population struggle to survive on less than $ 1 a day. The U.N. Children’s Fund said child mortality has increased and a third of children never complete primary education.