BUJUMBURA: Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has won a controversial third consecutive term in office, the election commission announced Friday.

Nkurunziza won 69.4 percent of the vote, handing him a first round victory, officials said. Nkurunziza's candidacy was denounced as unconstitutional by the opposition and provoked months of protests and an attempted coup in the central African nation.