‘It’s against culture’ – Kenyan men protest use of peeing cups by women

A section of men in Kenya have decried the sale of peeing cups, locally called ‘susu cups’, to women in the East African country. 

The men say the use of the cups go against the norm. While speaking to the BBC, Simon Baraza said: “This would be against the culture because women should not pee while standing.”

The business of selling peeing cups in Kenya has flourished after it was introduced to the market. The cups which help women urinate while standing prevents them from sitting on germ-infested public toilet bowls.

It also helps in providing solutions to those battling with infections after using unhygienic public toilets.

Njeri Muthaka, a dealer in peeing cups told the BBC’s Swahili-language health programme, Maisha, that she imported a peeing cup after suffering from urinary tract infections many times.

According to her, she was determined to use it after seeing a reduction in the recurrence of infections. This prompted her to start selling the cup locally.

Despite not being the brain behind the device, she confirmed she helped a lot in making it accessible to women in Kenya.

Shaped in a way to fit the female private organ, the women’s rights advocate revealed her biggest clients are the hospitals: “My biggest clientele are hospitals, caregivers with patients who have arthritis, pregnant women and people who have issues with their backs.” 

Experts say: “If you are not squatting to pee then it means you’re not getting in contact with the toilet, then it reduces the risk of infection. You can prevent a lot by using it.”

She said the cups are not meant for daily use, but are rather convenient for emergencies and when women cannot find clean toilets.

The cups cost KSh 200 ($1.99) and KSh 1,000 ($9.95) for local and international clients.

So far, Ms. Muthaka has sold 400 peeing cups across East Africa.

The sale of the peeing cups has become dominant in East Africa. The popularity of the ‘susu cup’ has seen the introduction of Dada Dada Kenya, a peeing funnel which was introduced by Kenyan entrepreneur, Francis Mwangi Kimani. 

Like the susu cups, a peeing funnel is a gadget that aids women to pee without much hustle or stress when caught in uncomfortable situations. It is meant to help women urinate in comfort.

According to Kimani, “Dada Dada is a line of hygiene products our lead product is the disposable female urination funnel that is aimed at helping women pee in comfort because in our country most of the public toilets are not very clean and this will help women from contracting Urinary Tract Infections (UTI), from dirty toilets or holding your urine for long.”

After completing his studies in Media Science at Moi University, Kimani worked in the marketing industry. It was at the point when he became unemployed that he decided to come up with ways to earn some income for himself.

“I have always been interested with anything to do with hygiene, so I started researching and this is where I landed,” he said.

To protect the environment, Kimani decided to produce Disposable Female Urination Funnels instead of the rubber type that are already available.