Three members of the National Assembly have ceased to be members of two portfolio committees due to their prolonged absence.

This was announced by National Assembly Speaker Professor Peter Katjavivi in this house this afternoon.

The absence of opposition party parliamentarians in the National Assembly has resulted in a short session this afternoon - with some MPs suggesting that the house goes on recess right away.

Today, the National Council resumed its session after a four-month hiatus.

The house chairperson, Lukas Muha, says the NC will sit for two weeks to look at various bills and motions, as well as reports referred to it by the National Assembly, including other reports from the Council as per its mandates.

The National Assembly today (Wednesday) failed to carry out its daily business after there was no quorum in the house.

This was largely due to the absence of opposition party MPs, who continued to abscond from the proceedings for the second day in a row.

The National Assembly Speaker, Professor Peter Katjavivi, has appealed for respect among parliamentarians.

This follows the opposition MPs' two-day walkout in the House last week.

The National Assembly has managed to complete all items on its agenda on today's order paper, despite the absence of all opposition party members in the house.

The National Assembly held a remembrance ceremony for the late Ignatius Shixwameni who died of a heart attack at parliament last year November. 

The remembrance ceremony was also aimed at creating awareness of prevention measures and how to handle heart attacks. 

Opposition MPs in the National Assembly said the medium-term budget does not address issues facing the youth, nor does the government have concrete plans to tackle unemployment and housing.

The Namibian government wants to implement new measures to provide relief to taxpayers through the introduction of an Income Tax Amendment Bill, tabled in the National Assembly this week.

Members of the National Assembly want obsolete laws repealed and replaced with new laws that address contemporary challenges facing the nation.