Citizens of Equatorial Guinea have gone to the polls in a vote expected to hand Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the incumbent president and Africa’s longest serving leader, another seven-year term in office.

The country’s opposition leaders and international civil society groups have already dismissed Sunday’s vote as “not credible”.

Obiang, 73, faces six mostly unknown opponents, with most of the opposition boycotting the poll.

Election results will start to come in after the polls close at 9pm local time and final results are expected on Monday.

Obiang, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea for nearly 37 years after overthrowing his uncle in a coup, is accused of presiding over one of the world’s most corrupt and repressive governments.

Income inequality

Critics accuse Obiang of failing to distribute the country’s oil wealth to the population of about 700,000.

But according to the poor living in the slums, the money seems to be going to a few people.

They allege it is going to Obiang’s family, the inner circle of the government.

They say there is not enough distribution of wealth.

Some opposition parties are boycotting the election, but others are participating, although they say campaigning was difficult and have questioned the credibility of the electoral process.

Some key countries have chosen to remain quiet about the vote.

According to the UN 2014 Human Development Report, the country has the highest per capita gross domestic product of Any African country – about $37,000.

But it ranks 144 out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index that measures social and economic development.

As a result, Equatorial Guinea has by far the world’s largest gap of all countries between its per capita wealth and its human development score.

•Excerpted from reports by Al Jazeera and agencies. Photo shows veteran Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

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