President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has defended the Chief Justice’s comments on the performance of state institutions, dismissing suggestions that the remarks were politically motivated.

Speaking on Joy FM's Middaynews on Thursday, September 3, he argued that available data supports the view that some state institutions are performing better than they did under the previous administration.

According to him, the key question is whether the Chief Justice breached any law or stated anything untrue.

"Is it not the truth that some of these state institutions are performing better? Come on, just look at the data. What are you talking about? I mean, the data speaks for itself. It is a fact. Did he lie? I mean, did he lie?" he asked.

His comments follows criticisms of the Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, who during a visit to the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on Wednesday, September 2, praised the performance of the MIIF and other public institutions under the current administration, saying some of the developments he has witnessed have left him wondering what Ghana was doing over the past eight years.

Mr Cudjoe said there was nothing inherently wrong with the Chief Justice commenting on public matters during an official engagement.

He explained that the Chief Justice was responding to a presentation on the performance of state institutions and was therefore naturally expected to offer his observations.

“Everybody has an opinion,” he said. “Nobody is suggesting to the Chief Justice that he can’t speak on any public matter."

Mr Cudjoe maintained that the Chief Justice was presented with information comparing the performance of state institutions under previous and current administrations before making his comments.

He therefore disagreed with criticism that the remarks compromised the Judiciary’s neutrality.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it. I don’t see why people are thinking that it is political,” he said.