He rose to commander of the Marine Regiment and deputy chief of staff of the Uganda Army following the 1971 Ugandan coup d'état, and became a member of Amin's inner circle.

[8] When tensions rose between Obote and army commander Idi Amin, the latter organized a bodyguard of trusted soldiers, including Taban.

His rise was the result of his connections to Amin and his lowly background, as the new president feared that better-educated officers could eventually overthrow him and wanted to check their influence.

[16] After an initial Ugandan invasion of Tanzanian territory was defeated,[17] the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) launched a counter-invasion and overran the border town of Mutukula on 21–22 January 1979.

Shortly after the battle, Taban and Lieutenant Colonel Godwin Sule arrived with a helicopter at nearby Sanje, to where the Mutukula garrison had retreated.

This information was received badly by the local troops; Sule sensed that the soldiers could possibly revolt and instructed Taban to order the reinforcements to advance so that they could relieve Rwehururu's men.

According to Amin's son Jaffar Rembo, however, Taban and many of the Sudanese soldiers in the Marine Regiment fled the frontlines around the time of the Battle of Lukaya.

[22] In 1983, Africa Confidential reported that Taban was still living in "oblivion" in Yei, hoping for Amin's eventual return to power in Uganda.