The US Embassy in Accra has expedited visa processing for the mother and cousin of slain 15-year-old Ghanaian Javits Frimpong, enabling the two relatives to travel to New York to pay their last respects to the teenager.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa commended the Embassy for its swift intervention, describing the processing of the visas as a “super expedited same-day” service.
“I wish to commend the US Embassy in Accra for the super expedited same-day processing of the visa of the mother and cousin of Javits Frimpong yesterday,” he stated in a social media post.
The development follows an intervention by New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who secured President Donald Trump’s commitment to grant an immediate visa to Javits’ mother, Doris Adu Gyamfi, after a telephone conversation with the US President.
Ablakwa disclosed that the two relatives were expected to depart Accra for New York within hours, while expressing appreciation to President Trump and Mayor Mamdani for their intervention.
The Minister also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting the bereaved family, assuring that the Mahama administration would continue working with US authorities to ensure justice for the teenager.
He said the government remained in close contact with American authorities and would not relent in pursuing the matter until those responsible were brought to justice.
Ghana’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and the country’s Consulate are also monitoring developments and engaging relevant authorities as investigations continue.
Ablakwa said the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Ghana’s diplomatic missions abroad would continue to pursue justice for Ghanaians wherever they found themselves, stressing that an attack on one Ghanaian was a concern for the entire nation.
“The Foreign Ministry and our diplomatic missions will continue to actively pursue justice for all our compatriots everywhere in the world an attack on a Ghanaian anywhere in the world is an attack on all of us,” he stated.
He also commiserated with the bereaved family, describing the loss of a 15-year-old child under such circumstances as deeply heartbreaking.
The killing has drawn widespread condemnation in Ghana and the United States, with US Congressman Ritchie Torres, who represents New York’s 15th Congressional District, attending a vigil in the Bronx in honour of the teenager.
“Our entire borough is mourning a young man who should have had his whole future ahead of him. Every child in the Bronx deserves to walk to school without fearing for their life, and no parent should ever have to endure what Javits’s father, Thomas, is enduring now.” he stated.
Meanwhile, the New York Police Department (NYPD) says it is investigating multiple possible motives for the killing, including bullying, robbery and mistaken identity, while pursuing three teenage suspects.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were examining whether alleged bullying at Javits’ school may have played a role in the shooting. However, he stressed that no motive had been established and that detectives were also considering other possibilities.
Police have reportedly obtained surveillance footage showing the suspects fleeing the scene and boarding a southbound No. 5 train into Manhattan. No arrests had been announced as of November 3.
Javits was shot in the abdomen on October 29 while walking to school in the Bronx and later died at a hospital. His father, Thomas Frimpong, had previously raised concerns about alleged bullying at school, although investigators have yet to establish a link between the reports and the fatal shooting
Source: Diplomatic Times
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