MALAWI has awarded a historic 50% bonus to its 130000 poorly paid civil servants, a top government official said on Thursday. Alfred Upindi, secretary to the president and cabinet, said that President Bakili Muluzi has ordered the bonuses to be paid, for the first since colonial rule ended in 1964. He said the funds to pay the bonuses were drawn from the internal savings of this impoverished southern African state, which has a budget deficit of $42-million and is struggling to pay back foreign debts totalling $2,3-billion dollars.