made, such finding or sentence shall not be treated as a finding or sentence (Subsection 3). The said Section 148 (3) provides: “A finding of guilty or sentence of a court-martial shall not be treated as a finding or sentence of the court-martial until it is confirmed: Provided that: a) this subsection shall not affect the keeping of the accused in military custody pending confirmation, where the sentence is a term of imprisonment or a higher sentence, or the operation of sections 149 and 150 of this Act, or the provisions of this Act as to confirmation or approval; 42.Section (a) above contemplates that when the sentence is a term of imprisonment a confirmation at some point is necessary though detention within the waiting period is authorized. In the instant case, the Applicant remained in detention without a confirmation order. More importantly, he served his two years prison term without the said confirmation. The question to be determined at this point is whether the sentence passed on the Applicant is deemed valid in the absence of a confirmation order from the confirming authority? 43.It is evident from the provisions of the AFA that the Confirming Authority plays an indispensable role in virtually all matters relating to the Court Martial. Also, the wordings of the AFA in relation to the confirming authority embodies a continuous use of the word “shall” which denotes the doing of a mandatory act. To buttress this assertion, Section 151 (1) of the AFA provides the responsibilities of the said confirming authority in relation to the court martial in the following words: 16