Exhibit (31)a          Rule 13a-15(e)/15d-15(e) Certifications.

KANSAS CITY
LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION

                                                          First Quarter 2004

I, R. Philip Bixby, President, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Kansas City Life Insurance Company, certify
that:

|1. | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Kansas City Life Insurance Company;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
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|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 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 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;
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| | 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 control over financial reporting that occurred during
         the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
         has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
         reporting; and 

|5. | The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
         financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons
         performing the equivalent functions):
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| | a) | all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial
         reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
         financial information; and
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| | b) | any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the
         registrant's internal control over financial reporting.                                                                                                        

Date:      May 7, 2004

`/s/R. Philip Bixby           
R. Philip Bixby
President, Chief Executive Officer
and Vice Chairman of the Board`