To give or not to give literary prizes?

This is the Pulitzer season the US but writers, publishers and booksellers are mourning after the Pulitzer board declined to give an award to any of the shortlisted books. The decision has made history because it is only the tenth time that this has happened. Writers and publishers are scratching their heads trying to come up with an explanation to the board's decision. Is it that America did not produce books that were not worth awarding? Is that the books that were shortlisted did not meet the cut? Is it that the board of three members, which is required to make a decision based on majority, could not agree?
Of course they have no answers but their decision has sparked considerable soul searching and a probably similar amount of tantrum-throwing in American publishing.
But what are the lessons for Kenya?
A few years back, the judges of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize, the biggest in Kenya, failed to name a winner but wen on to do a very curios thing: name a runner up! Their decision caused uproar but at least they told the publishing industry that in their estimation, there was no book that deserved the award that year. Did publishers learn from the judges.
Has the number of outstanding works of fiction published in Kenya increased? Have there been books that have generated debate, excited readers, inspired reading and tantalised book sellers? And what has been the quality and quantity of creative works that have come out of Kenya's publishing industry, say, in the last five years?
Well, I cannot purport to have answers to those questions. May be what we need is someone to undertake research and tell the rest of us just how many novels have been published and why they are important and, if possible, also tell us why we should go out and buy them.