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               Citizens Effingham Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiary
           CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350 AS ADOPTED
            PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
                  For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2003


                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

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I, Harry H. Shearouse, President/Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-QSB of Citizens
         Effingham Bancshares, Inc.;

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.       I am 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 I
         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)       designed such internal control over financial reporting, of
                  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.       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 function):

         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:  November 4, 2003

/s/Harry H. Shearouse
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Harry H. Shearouse
President and Chief Executive Officer