Exhibit 31 (i)

RULE 13a-14(a) CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE
OFFICER

I, Kim D. Saunders, certify that:



| | 1. | I have reviewed the annual report on Form 10-K of M & F Bancorp, Inc., as amended by this Amendment No. 1 (together, the “Report”):
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| | 2. | Based on my knowledge, this annual 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;
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| | 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;
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| | 4. | The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing
and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Securities Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
registrant and have:
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| | (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;
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| | (b) | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed
under 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;
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| | (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
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| | (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
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| | 5. | The registrant's other certifying officer(s) 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
the 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.
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|Date:
March 24, 2014 | /s/ Kim D. Saunders                  
|-------------------- | -------------------------------------
|                     | Kim D. Saunders                      
|                     | President and Chief Executive Officer
|                     | M&F Bancorp, Inc.