|   | Exhibit 31(a), Form 10-Q |
|--------|--------------------------|

|   | Kansas City Life Insurance Company |
|--------|------------------------------------|

 

**KANSAS CITY LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY**

**SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION**

First            Quarter 2008

I, R.            Philip Bixby, President, Chief Executive Officer and 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;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2.     | Based on my knowledge, this 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 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 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))                            and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange                            Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) 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 report is being prepared; |
|   | b)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | designed such internal control over financial reporting,                            or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed                            under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the                            reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial                            statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted                            accounting principles; |
|   | c)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | 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 |
|   | d)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | 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):                                                                     |
|   | 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 |
|   | 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:            April 30, 2008

| /s/R. Philip Bixby |
|--------------------|

R.            Philip Bixby

President, Chief Executive Officer,

and            Chairman of the Board