CoD N$2m in the red

FORMER Congress of Democrats Secretary General Kalla Gertze says the party is in the red by N$2 million and has been “virtually on its knees” since its 2004 congress.

“It was hold on or drop it situation. It was not easy to hold one’s ground,” he said.”Personally, these debts have made me think and wonder if I had made the right decision to accept the responsibilities of Party Secretary General,” he added.Gertze was chosen as Secretary General at the 2004 party congress but was ousted by Rosa Namises at the weekend’s extraordinary congress at Keetmanshoop.According to Gertze a big chunk of the debt, totalling N$80 000, was owed to Telecom Namibia.The other debts included unpaid salaries to party office employees and unpaid bills of various creditors.Briefing congress delegates over the weekend, Gertze said the party head office had to stay closed because of a lack of human, financial and material resources.Gertze said COD had been forced to sell some of its dilapidated movable assets, mainly vehicles, and had to close down some regional offices to ease the financial burden.Some offices were later reopened, he said.”As regrettable as the decision to close offices would the decision be to continue keeping them open,” he said.Gertze said N$160 000 was earned from the sale of movable assets, and the money was used to settle some of the party’s hire-purchase loans.The party’s funding from Government was also used to repay debt.Gertze further said that a Swedish organisation, known as SSDP, rescued the sinking ship of the CoD with a sponsorship deal.He said the party now had only two bank accounts instead of the nine it had when he took office in 2004.”Today we maintain a very sound relationship with Bank Windhoek and other creditors,” Gertze said.According to Gertze, the audit report for the 2003/04 financial year was not completed because of outstanding supporting documents, adding that unclear Inland Revenue information pertaining to salaries also contributed to the incomplete audit report.As a result, the CoD still owes the Ministry of Finance N$218 000, Gertze said.”The office, with the help of the auditors, is now looking into how to settle this with the Ministry of Finance,” Gertze said.It was not easy to hold one’s ground,” he said.”Personally, these debts have made me think and wonder if I had made the right decision to accept the responsibilities of Party Secretary General,” he added.Gertze was chosen as Secretary General at the 2004 party congress but was ousted by Rosa Namises at the weekend’s extraordinary congress at Keetmanshoop.According to Gertze a big chunk of the debt, totalling N$80 000, was owed to Telecom Namibia.The other debts included unpaid salaries to party office employees and unpaid bills of various creditors.Briefing congress delegates over the weekend, Gertze said the party head office had to stay closed because of a lack of human, financial and material resources.Gertze said COD had been forced to sell some of its dilapidated movable assets, mainly vehicles, and had to close down some regional offices to ease the financial burden.Some offices were later reopened, he said.”As regrettable as the decision to close offices would the decision be to continue keeping them open,” he said.Gertze said N$160 000 was earned from the sale of movable assets, and the money was used to settle some of the party’s hire-purchase loans.The party’s funding from Government was also used to repay debt.Gertze further said that a Swedish organisation, known as SSDP, rescued the sinking ship of the CoD with a sponsorship deal.He said the party now had only two bank accounts instead of the nine it had when he took office in 2004.”Today we maintain a very sound relationship with Bank Windhoek and other creditors,” Gertze said.According to Gertze, the audit report for the 2003/04 financial year was not completed because of outstanding supporting documents, adding that unclear Inland Revenue information pertaining to salaries also contributed to the incomplete audit report.As a result, the CoD still owes the Ministry of Finance N$218 000, Gertze said.”The office, with the help of the auditors, is now looking into how to settle this with the Ministry of Finance,” Gertze said.