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                                                                  EXHIBIT 31 (a)

I, John Whetzell certify that:

1.   I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report on Form 10-Q of  Northland  Cable
     Properties Eight Limited Partnership;

2.   Based on my knowledge,  this  quarterly  report does not contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to
     make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such
     statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
     this quarterly report;

3.   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information  included  in this  quarterly  report,  fairly  present  in all
     material respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash
     flows of the  registrant  as of, and for,  the  periods  presented  in this
     quarterly report;

4.   The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer  and  I are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(e) and  15d-15(e))  for the registrant and we
     have:

          a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,  or caused such
               disclosure  controls  and  procedures  to be  designed  under our
               supervision,  to ensure that material information relating to the
               registrant,  including  its  consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made
               known to us by others within those entities,  particularly during
               the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

          b)   Evaluated  the  effectiveness  of  the  registrant's   disclosure
               controls  and   procedures  and  presented  in  this  report  our
               conclusions  about the  effectiveness of the disclosure  controls
               and  procedures,  as of the  end of the  period  covered  by this
               report based on such evaluation; and

          c)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's  internal
               controls  over  financial  reporting  that  occurred  during  the
               registrant's  most  recent  fiscal  quarter  that has  materially
               affected,  or is reasonably  likely to affect,  the  registrant's
               internal controls over financial reporting; and

5.   The registrant's  other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based on
     our most recent evaluation of internal  controls over financial  reporting,
     to the registrant's auditors and board of directors:

          a)   All  significant  deficiencies  and  material  weaknesses  in the
               design  or  operation  of  internal   controls   over   financial
               reporting,  which are reasonably  likely to adversely  affect the
               registrant's  ability to record,  process,  summarize  and report
               financial information; and

          b)   Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves management or
               other employees who have a significant  role in the  registrant's
               internal controls over financial reporting.

DATE: 11-14-05

/s/  JOHN S. WHETZELL
     ----------------
     John S. Whetzell
     Chief Executive Officer