  We present the studies of structural, electrical, and magnetic properties of
bulk Cd$_{1\textrm{-}x}$Mn$_{x}$GeAs$_{2}$ crystals with low Mn content, $x$,
varying from 0 to 0.037. The studied samples have excellent crystallographic
quality indicated by the presence of diffraction patterns never before observed
experimentally for this compound. The electrical transport in our samples is
dominated by thermal activation of conducting holes from the impurity states to
the valence band with activation energy of about 200$\;$meV. The defect states
acting as ionic scattering centers with concentration in the range from 6 to
15$\times$10$^{17}$$\;$cm$^{-3}$ are observed. The effective Mn content in our
samples, $\bar{x}_{\theta}$, determined from fit of the susceptibility data to
the Curie-Weiss law, is very close to the average chemical content, $x$. It
indicates that the Mn ions are distributed randomly, substituting the Cd sites
in the host CdGeAs$_{2}$ lattice. We observe a negative Curie-Weiss
temperature, $|\theta|$$\,$$\leq$$\,$3.1$\;$K, increasing as a function of $x$.
This indicates the significance of the short-range interactions between the Mn
ions.
