He promptly took off for the border in a Peugeot sedan. As he was speeding toward the border, Fadhul ran into FRONASA rebels under the command of Yoweri Museveni. The rebels did not recognize him, allowing Fadhul to drive past them and get to the next telephone, and from there, he was able to inform Amin and the Simba Battalion of the rebel invasion. Afterwards, he went into hiding for a few days, only reemerging after the insurgents had been repelled by his subordinate Yusuf Gowon. After the fighting, he took part in purges of suspected rebels as well as rebel sympathizers in and around Mbarara, mostly hunting insurgents in the countryside while leaving Mbarara town to Gowon. Fadhul was later accused of having ordered the murder of Francis Xavier Tibayungwa, the former administrative secretary of Ankole, during this time. Tibayungwa was believed to have previously helped Museveni escape Uganda after the 1971 coup; the ex-official was bayonetted to death. In the next years, Fadhul rose to governor in the northern (Acholi and Lango districts) and the western provinces (Ankole and Tooro districts). He was promoted to full colonel in May 1973, and also appointed head of the 2nd Infantry Brigade (renamed to "Simba Mechanized Brigade"). By 1974, he was Governor of Northern Province and "one of the most prominent figures in the regime" according to researcher Thomas Lowman. In this position, he mostly acted as an absentee official, often staying in Kampala and only involving himself in northern affairs by exhorting increases in cotton production, exploiting local smugglers and businesses, and suppressing rebel activity. He sometimes displayed a complete lack of knowledge of the activities of lower-ranking officials in his territories. Around 1974, he was appointed Minister for Provincial Administration. According to lower-ranking Ugandan smugglers, Fadhul exploited his military and government positions to directly participate in smuggling operations and illegally amass a fortune, while publicly condemning smugglers as "economic criminals" harming the country. By the Uganda–Tanzania War of 1978–1979, he had been promoted to brigadier. In January 1979, he was featured in Ugandan radio propaganda: In his capacity as Minister for Provincial Administration, he had reportedly met Buganda elders during an official meeting with Amin, telling them how much the President respected them. In addition, Fadhul falsely claimed that the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation had not insulted foreign heads of state as Radio Tanzania had done, showcasing that Uganda was