Malawi’s second all-time leading scorer Lawrence ‘Lule’ Waya has been honoured for his outstanding service to the country’s football fraternity.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) handed Waya a certificate of recognition and K500,000 on the sidelines of the association’s annual general meeting held in the lakeshore district of Salima on Saturday.

FAM president Walter Nyamilandu presented Waya with a certificate of recognition alongside outgoing technical director John Kaputa and referees development officer Maxwell Mtonga.

FAM website quotes Nyamilandu saying: “For Lawrence, he is a legend. To me, he is the best player the country has ever produced and we thought of recognising him as he is still alive.”

In reaction, FAM website quotes  Waya saying: “I would like to thank FAM for the gesture. It feels good to be here and witness this while I am alive and I would like to urge FAM to do the same to more legends out there.”

Waya was nicknamed Lule after former Uganda president Yusuf Lule after his exploits during the East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup held in Uganda in the late 1980s.

He scored 27 goals in 132 games for the Flames and is only second behind Kinnah Phiri’s who scored 71 goals.

Waya played for Malawi between 1982 and 1996. He was also a star for Bata Bullets.