Pan African Civic Educators Network (PACENET) was founded in 1996 by a German based institution called the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KF). The foundation pledged to support PACENET for a specified period during which PACENET was to stand on its own and seek funding from other donors. From inception PACENET was designed to be a coordination body for civic educators drawn from West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa and its activities political in nature. In terms of legal status PACENET was registered in March,2002 by the Malawi government under Trustees Incorporation Act, as a membership organization with its secretariat then in Lilongwe in Malawi. The secretariat was housed in the local office for KF.The first Trustees Chairperson was Dr Rama Naidu from South Africa, while late David Faiti from Malawi chaired the board of governors, now the BOARD. The African regions became regional chapters of PACENET comprising countries in the regions which subscribed to ideals of the continental body.