Former President Rawlings has said the failure of Africa's development partners to check corrupt leaders has led to such corruption taking a life of its own.
He said it was unfortunate that some corrupt leaders rather than being exposed are rewarded with international awards and sometimes even knighted.
The former President was delivering the keynote address at the second Pan African Congress in Munich, Germany on Saturday.
Speaking on the theme, "How Good Governance Could Be Achieved in Africa" the former President said good governance in Africa requires the
genuine support of our development partners.
He said: "If they fail to support us with real intentions but rather do so on some petty and parochial agenda as experienced over the past decade it breeds corrupt leaders. When elections in a large and recognised democracy like the United States are seen as doubtful it gives room for some opportunistic African leaders to take a cue."
Former President Rawlings said he was encouraged by the efforts of US President Barrack Obama's quest to bring sanity into international
diplomacy, governance and economic crime.
He said attempts to question illicit funds siphoned away into offshore bank accounts were commendable.
"Afghanistan's Ahmed Karzai realised last week the full import of that new American policy when Obama warned that no additional troops would be sent to his country unless the recommendations of election observers were adhered to," former President Rawlings stated.
The former Ghanaian President said it was unfortunate that the West always preferred to impose its version of democracy on the continent and counselled that it was important that individual African countries adopted their own democratic systems based on their historical and cultural backgrounds.
President Rawlings mentioned the Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal and prayed that when the government concluded its investigations on the matter those guilty would receive no preferential treatment.
The District Assembly concept, which was adopted from the PNDC era, was one aspect of governance he stated had been adopted into Ghana's Fourth Republican democratic process.
"In 1992 Ghana once again reverted to multiparty democracy under the Fourth Republican Constitution. We did not adopt the process hook, line and sinker as the West clamoured for. We ensured that the District Assembly
concept still remained to support central government in grassroots democracy. District assemblies and municipal assemblies have till today supported central government and allow for people to identify directly with what government is doing through their own active participation.
"For Africa to achieve good governance countries sovereign as they are have to adopt effective means of allowing the populace to play a sustained role in governance. Views have to be sought not only from parliamentarians as they most often are unable to sample general opinion and also tend to support policy on strict party lines sometimes to the detriment of their
communities," former President Rawlings said.