When the Uganda–Tanzania War erupted in 1978, Malik and his associate Justice Mohamed Said attempted to bolster Amin's government. He was among the last loyalists of the Ugandan government, although both he as well as Said fled the country before the Fall of Kampala to Tanzanian-led troops in April 1979. The two Pakistanis managed to cross the border to Kenya, although their Mercedes-Benz cars were confiscated by Amin's guards for their own escape.