Well, after these standard SB's good words, a simple question came to my mind: why the only foreign country visited by SB is in Africa? This is what he has recently said:

"Q: Have you gone abroad any time?

A: Yes, only once -- to East Africa, that too because of the pure love of a devotee, who is no more now. I did not go at the invitation of the government."

(from the March 1999 "Times of India" interview)

After some searching, I've found an article about the alleged (and revealed false) resurrection of mr. Walter Cowan (Indian Skeptic Vol. 2 No 10/14, "The resurrection of Walter Cowan" by Margaret Bhatty). There we learn that the country visited by SB was Uganda, and the devotee for whose "pure love" SB went there was Dr. C.G. Patel, an inner member of Sai Baba's circle and also an inner circle member of Mr. Idi Amin, and his personal physician. Here is some info about who is this Idi Amin, if you don't know him:

"Amin, Idi (full name, Idi Amin Dada Oumee) (born 1925), Ugandan president and dictator 1971-79, born in Koboko, Uganda; member of Bakeva people; joined King's African Rifles of British colonial army 1943; heavyweight boxing champion of army for almost ten years; served in Allied forces' Burma campaign during World War II; served with British against Mau Mau revolt in Kenya 1952-56; closely associated with Milton Obote, Uganda's first prime minister and president; chief of Ugandan army and air force 1966-70; led successful military coup to oust Obote 1971 and declared himself president and commander in chief, president for life 1976; expelled all Asians from Uganda 1972, which led to breakdown of economy; he reversed Uganda's friendship with Israel and befriended Libya and Palestinians; ordered execution of more than 300,000 tribal Ugandans; after invasion in 1978 by Tanzanian soldiers and Ugandan nationalists, Amin fled to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia; failed attempt to return to Africa 1989; biographies include `General Amin' (1974) and `A State of Blood: The Inside Story' (1977)"

(from Compton's Encyclopedia online)

Here is some other element, which I took from the website "Karamsad":

"Idi Amin was once the president of Uganda. He was a ruthless dictator of Uganda who now has asylum in Saudi Arabia. The man who chased the Indians out of Uganda, most of the Ugandan Indians fled to the UK in 1972. Over 90% of the UK's Indian population originated from Uganda.

Idi Amin was a devout Muslim who hated the Jews. He supported the Palestinian terrorists. In 1972 he sent a cable to the United Nations congratulating the Black September terrorists for the murder of Israeli sportsmen at the Olympic games in Munich. In the same cable he praised Hitler for killing over six million Jews.

On 3rd of July 1976 the hijacked Flight 139 was diverted to Entebbe airport just out of Kampala. Amin was sympathetic with the hijackers and he permitted additional terrorists to reinforce them. His own 80-100 troops at the scene had their guns trained on the 103 Jewish passengers in support of the 10 terrorists who threatened to execute the Jews from dawn, Sunday 4th of July. He was cunning as well as ruthless. Rather than take on the power of the Roman Catholic Church, he had Archbishop Luwum killed in a "traffic accident." Apart from the army, his main organ of suppression was based at Nakasero which was innocuously named the State Research Bureau.

At Nakasero, some of the tortures were mind-boggling. People had nails hammered into their skulls, limbs were broken, flames played onto the skin, broken soft drink bottles rammed into elbows and knees, sisal ropes used for slow strangulation, whips, knives, etc. In October 1978 Amin invaded Tanzania. At first his forces did well, looting, raping and killing as they went. By January 1979 however the Tanzanian troops, backed by 2000 anti-Amin Ugandans, crossed the Ugandan border and all resistance crumbled.

After Idi Amin's exit, the count of the dead and missing people was put at over 275,000."

(source: "Karamsad")

Nice guy, huh? Going on, it seems that those who called Sai Baba in Uganda were really an "happy company", read this excerpt of the above mentioned article:

"Premanand declared in a letter dated 13.2.1980 to Karanjia, [the editor of the Blitz Interview] that his investigations had revealed Mr. Walter Cowan was connected with the suicide cult of the Rev.Jim Jones. He was also into drug smuggling. Like the Sai Baba, Jones also practised psychic surgery, healing, materialisation and resurrections from the dead. Jim Jones' name was linked with that of Idi Amin of Uganda in the barter of weapons for gold from the Congo. [...]

Premanand had discovered from old issues of the Sai Baba's house magazine, Sanathana Sarathi, that his devotees "had connection with Rev.Jim Jones in California and Guyana and they also lectured at the Temple committees." Karanjia's response to these disclosures was a deafening silence."

Now, just one simple question would have to come to mind: what did the pure, divine, blissful, righteous and sweet Sai Baba had to do with those "nice" people? Did he went in Uganda pro or con this dubious circle of people, led by a future bloody dictator and a suicide cult leader? If he went there with pro intentions, well... that was a nice following for SB, the one "who has come to re-estabilish righteousness on the planet". Yet even if Sai Baba went there, let's just suppose, to do something to fix that dirty situation, he wasn't effective at all, since in 1971 Idi Amin led a successful "coup d'etat", starting a bloody season for Uganda. The meeting with Idi Amin is documented (very briefly) by N. Kasturi in the third volume of "The life of Sai Baba (Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram)", a four-volumes work wich covers Sai Baba's life from birth to about 1980; here is the presentation of volume III as reported on the official Sathya Sai Baba Organization website:

"PART III covers 1968 through 1973. Included are details of wami's journey to Africa, his only trip abroad so far. His talks to throngs in Kenya and Uganda are detailed, as well as his meeting with former dictator Idi Amin. This volume also contains references to Swami's statement about the nature and purpose of his miracles."

(da www.sathysai.org)

First of all one has to notice that Sai Baba met Idi Amin in July 1968, so Amin was not a "former dictator", but he still would have to become a dictator, and he had not yet committed his slaughters. Very opportunely, the official website doesn't deepen the scabrous figure of Amin, and brought this way, this passage gives the wrong impression that Amin met Sai Baba after having done what he did, as if he had "taken back the right way"... but here are are Kasturi's words:

"The presence of Baba at Kampala served to many to receive blessings and counsels. The High Commissioner of India, Sri K.P.R. Singh, the Chief of Uganda's Army, General Idi Amin, The Minister of Defence, Mr. Onama, the Minister of Information and Telecommunications, Mr. Ogira, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Bataringaya, the Police Inspector, Mr. Oryema, and other African Chiefs had met Baba in the residence of Doctor Patel and got a rapid vision of His Glory."

(from N. Kasturi, "The life of Sai Baba", vol. III, pag. 34; personal translation from italian edition)

In the photo: N. Kasturi, the decesaed Sai Baba's official biographer. Before his death, Kasturi received from Sai Baba the promise and forecasting that he will reincarnate as the mother of Prema Sai Baba, the third and last incarnation of the "Sai trinity". Quite a very simple and gratuite forecasting, since nobody will be able to confirm or deny it, and anyway the present Sai Baba will be dead fom long time, so he doesn't risk anythting...

 

That's all Kasturi had to say about Sai Baba and Idi Amin. When we consider that Kasturi's work has been written after that Amin committed his massacres and his misfacts, one has to say that this biography is a clear example of historical objectivity and impartiality in the recording of facts the way they had really happened... However, and evidently Kasturi seems not to have noticed it, the "blessings and counsels" and the "vision of His Glory" have been quite effective, since shortly after this "august and Divine Encounter" with Sai Baba, Idi Amin expelled all the Asians, put his Country down on knees and killed and tortured almost 300.000 peoples. Not so bad indeed.

There's another hypothesis: somewhere else, I've read that SB would have gone to Uganda to protect the big Hindu community which was living there. That didn't help much, since in 1972 Idi Amin expelled all Asians, Hindus included, from Uganda. And anyway, if ever this hypothesys were true, it would remain to explain this: Sai Baba has stated to have come for "the destruction of the evil-doers, for the reestabilishment of righteousness, etc..."; then how to explain that, despite the direct intervention of the Supreme Embodiement of God, the only direct intervention ever made by Sai Baba, Idi Amin could have been free to do what he has done? And why so many others, some even worse than him, were free to act and grow old without troubles? Is this the way Sai Baba thinks to reestabilish the righteousness worldwide?