Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo turned a parliamentary debate on the treatment of women into a humorous personal story after recalling how a monkey once confronted her inside her home.

Odhiambo was contributing to a debate on monkeys and the challenges they pose to communities when she linked the animals to what she described as the behaviour of men who do not respect women.

She began by arguing that monkeys are “patriarchal in nature” and do not respect or fear women, before sharing an unexpected encounter she had at her Nairobi home.

The legislator said she was taking a shower when she suddenly noticed a shadow and discovered that a monkey had entered her bedroom and bathroom.

“I was actually showering and suddenly I saw a shadow. It was a monkey in my bedroom and in my bathroom, and I’m alone,” Odhiambo told the House.

She said she refused to be intimidated by the animal and stood her ground.

According to the MP, she confronted the monkey until it eventually urinated before leaving through a window.

“I threatened it and it peed and left and jumped out of the window,” she said, drawing laughter in the chamber.

Odhiambo then used the encounter to return to her argument that monkeys do not respect women, suggesting that their behaviour mirrors that of some men.

“They are just copying from their male counterparts here. You are the ones who don’t respect women,” she said.

The MP also raised concerns about the impact of monkeys on communities, particularly farmers whose crops are destroyed by the animals.

She cited Kamato in her Suba North constituency as one of the areas affected by monkeys around the game park, while noting that communities in the Lake Region also contend with hippos and crocodiles.

Odhiambo called for monkeys to be considered in compensation schemes for crop destruction, arguing that farmers invest significant time and resources in their crops only for the animals to destroy them.